


The Adamant Blade

by anyanka_eg



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AU, BAMF!Danny, Big Bang Challenge, Demons, M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, New Jersey, New York
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 04:40:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyanka_eg/pseuds/anyanka_eg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Danny's sister Heather disappears, Steve drops everything and accompanies his partner back to New Jersey to help look for her, despite Danny's objections. How could Danny think he wouldn't? But there's more than Steve can ever guess to Danny's reluctance for him to help than just being difficult. Danny eventually shares the shocking information that his sister is a psychic PI, and that he can see ghosts.</p><p>Still reeling from Danny's revelations, Steve finds himself following Danny around a New York he never knew existed, one populated by magicians and voodoo priestesses, ghosts and demons. A world where Danny has all the skills and training, and Steve is barely even the backup.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks: huge thanks to amporkris for creating some effing amazing art for this, and for giving me great feedback. Also, thanks to my mum for betaing this for me. We have wildly different views about Oxford commas but she still did a sterling job on it.
> 
> Notes: The world I've written here borrows heavily from the Rivers of London series of books (stop reading this and go and read them now, they are way better than anything I have or will ever write) but isn't a crossover as I've only picked and chosen certain ideas from the world of those books.
> 
> Also, apologies for lack of Chin and Kono. I just couldn't make it work to have them going with Danny and Steve, and all the action happens around them

 

 

Heather blinked in surprise. The wave of raw power that rolled over her wasn't unexpected, not after the story Jim had told her, but its origins were. It prickled her skin as it passed, raising the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck, and left the taste of burning sulfur in her mouth. Not good. So not good.

She scrambled up the hill though, knowing if she wanted to have any chance of stopping him, she needed to see what Retson was doing in the clearing. The trees thinned and Heather glimpsed the man she'd been after for three days, facing away from her, bathed in a snot green light that made her eyes itch. She stepped sideways, peering around the trees to see what he was looking at.

She barely had time to register what she saw before she felt like the world was on fire. It burned through her, ripping at her heart, pushing into her lungs and driving sharp, jagged claws into her brain. She fought it, clutching at her own power and wrapping it around her mind, pushing back at the thing that was trying to pull her to pieces.

It roared, maddened by her resistance, and Heather felt the world around her tear apart. Staring into the void where the trees had been a moment before, she felt the sickly cold wash of raging emptiness reaching out towards her. Even as her mind recoiled in horror, her body lurched towards it, and she tumbled forwards into the hole in the world

“Oh shit.”  
[  
](http://anyanka-eg.livejournal.com/202012.html)


	2. One

Danny finished his second beer, grimacing as the too warm liquid slipped down his throat. He kind of wanted another but really couldn't be bothered moving. Glancing at Steve, sprawled on the other end of the sofa, and wondered if he could prod the other man into getting it for him. It had been a busy week and he was full of second rate pizza and ready for the weekend.

“Beer?” he suggested.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed tiredly from his end of the sofa, dragging his eyes away from the game.

“Well, get me one whileyou're there,” Danny said, with a smirk and wave of his empty bottle.

Steve glared at him, but Danny could already see he was starting to think about getting up. It was mean, he guessed, to use Steve's innate Steve-ness against him, but he was tired and just couldn't be bothered to move. His partner might think he was a big manly SEAL, large and in charge, but really he was still the over-eager, gangly kid he'd seen on the family photos that had appeared, now Doris was back. Somewhere, deep inside that Navy-damaged brain of his, were the remnants of the old fashioned manners instilled by his parents; calling people ma’am and sir, giving up his seat to anyone who might need it, holding open doors, doing his chores, and getting guests what ever they might need. Of course, for what they'd achieved in the manners department, they'd seriously let themselves down in the 'not fucking up your kid by faking your own death and sending them away' stakes.

“Come on babe,” Danny encouraged, just to get a rise out of Steve. “I'm parched. My mouth's like the Sahara.”

“You're a...” Steve started, pausing when Danny's phone rang.

Danny pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID, surprised to see his parent's faces beaming at him before his swiped his thumb over the screen to answer. “Mom?”

“It's me, son,” his dad said, and Danny couldn't help sitting up straighter, tension gripping his shoulders. Bob Williams didn't make phone calls, not unless he had to, everyone knew that, it was one of the great constants of the universe.

“What's up, Pop?”

Steve's eyebrows rose, already putting two and two together and coming up with something serious. For all the names Danny called him, Steve was a good man. And because of it, Steve got up, picked up the empty beer bottles, and headed to the kitchen. Leaving Danny in peace as his world fell apart.

“There's no easy way to say this,” his dad said, and Danny's heart rate about doubled because there was no way that sentence could end well. “Heather's missing.”

“How long?” Danny asked, levering himself up off the sofa, the need to move, to question, overcoming his initial shock. His sister was gone. His baby sister.

“Two days,” his dad told him. “We only found out this morning and we needed to check she really was missing.” He continued before Danny could muster any anger at not being called earlier. “You know we couldn't just go right to the cops with this.”

Danny blew out a breath, because...”Christ.”

“I know. You're mother's beside herself.” His dad sounded old, worn down by life, and Danny felt his eyes prick. God, his family shouldn't be going through this on their own. Especially since Matt.

“Nana?” Danny needed to be in Jersey so badly it physically hurt.

“It was her told us Heather was gone.”

Danny's knees gave out. Dimly he was aware he didn't hit the floor but couldn't think about anything past what it meant that Nana knew Heather was missing. “Jesus.”

“I hate to ask this, son. I know you're busy, but we need you home.”

How could his dad imagine he'd be anywhere else than looking for his sister? “I'll get a flight as soon as I can, Pop, you know that.”

“It won't be a problem?”

“No. No it won't.” Danny didn’t even need to think about that. Ohana, that trumped everything with his team, and even if it hadn't there's nothing, short of Steve putting his name on the no fly list, that would stop him from being back in Jersey in the next twenty four hours. “I'll book flights and call you back.”

“We'll be awake,” his dad replied before he rang off. And yeah, Danny figured he'd be awake tonight too.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and realized he was sat down on the sofa again, and Steve was watching him from the other end, his forehead creased with worry. “Is it one of your grandparents?”

“What?” That was really not the question Danny was expecting from his partner.

“You mentioned your Nana.”

“It's Heather, she's missing.” Danny looked down at his hands and realized they were shaking. “My baby sister, Steve!”

“Jesus, Danny,” Steve said, sitting up and looking for all the world like he was going to rush off and start looking for her himself. “What do you need? I'll call Chin and get him to reach out to the FBI, and Kono can work any evidence the cops have virtually.”

“And what will you be doing?” Danny had to ask, even if he knew it was not what was really going to happen. There wasn't going to be a police investigation, at least not a real one.

“I'm coming with you,” Steve said, looking at Danny like he grown an extra head. “Where else would I be?”

“Babe,” Danny said, because he didn't need that. Well, maybe he did need it if the sudden feeling of relief that flooded through him was anything to go by, but he certainly couldn't want it. Now was not the right time to have to explain about his family, about himself, he had to focus on finding his sister. Steve might be the person most people wanted hunting for their missing relatives, but Danny knew he'd be nothing but a distraction in what lay ahead.

“Seriously, you can't expect me not to,” Steve objected, obviously reading Danny's thoughts on his face. And the big goof was looking like Danny had kicked his puppy, or stolen his favorite gun. “It's family.”

“My family,” Danny pointed out, wishing he didn't have to watch Steve's face fall. “I can't...there's things that...look, Steve, I need...”

“Whatever you need,” Steve said, looking at him with determined kindness. “But I am going with you.”

Danny stared at his partner for a few seconds, weighing up his choices. He could, he knew, actually win the argument about going to New Jersey, but he was pretty certain that he'd ruin their friendship in doing it. By contrast, telling Steve his sister was a psychic investigator in New York would probably just prompt laughter.

“Okay,” Danny agreed finally. “You book us some flights, I've got to make some calls.”

Steve nodded, already grabbing his phone and scrolling through his contacts. Danny would tell him about his sister on the flight, it'd pass the time after all. The rest of it, the bit that would freak out any right thinking naval officer, he was going to ignore for as long as he possibly could.

Steve worried at his bottom lip with his teeth and wondered if he hadn't made a huge mistake. Danny was sat across the aisle from him, four rows forward, his whole body one tense, irritated nerve ending, and, no matter what Steve did, he seemed to make it worse.

Everything he'd done since insisting on going with Danny had gone wrong, or rather it hadn't gone the way he wanted it to. He'd gotten Chin on the task of finding them commercial flights leaving the island as soon as possible, while he'd checked into hitching a ride with a military transport. Steve was still being passed around the system when Chin came through with the news he'd managed to get them two seats on the last flight out that evening, and Kono was on her way to drive them to the airport. They'd hurriedly checked their bags and guns with the airline, because even Steve couldn't begin to try to justify they carry them onboard. Badging their way through security, they'd sprinted the last few hundred yards to the gate and been the last two passengers aboard.

That had been eight hours ago and Danny had barely spoken to him since. Steve understood his partner was working through things in his head, no doubt running worst case scenarios, because no cop's sister vanished for innocent reasons, but he didn't get why his voluble partner wasn't talking to him. When Mary had been kidnapped his mind had gone to some pretty dark places, but he'd leaned on his friend and received all the support he could have wanted from Danny.

Steve had tried to talk to him when they'd been sat together on the first leg of the journey, but Danny had shut him down. Even going so far as to put on his earphones and watching the inflight movie, something with lots of crying women and possibly a horse. Steve knew Danny was hating every minute of it but he'd stuck it out just to not talk, and that kind of hurt.

As soon as they'd landed in Phoenix, Danny pulled his cell from his pocket and started making furiously whispered calls. Steve had organized them through the airport, via Starbucks, to their gate, all the while trying to guess what was happening in Jersey from snatches of Danny's side of the conversation.

Once they got to the gate, nothing Steve tried could make the miserable excuse for a human-being-airline clerk seat them together. He was pretty sure the man, who eyed Steve's navy ID with almost open contempt, though he and Danny were together, and had decided he was saving the world from the evils of same sex marriage. The only thing Danny had said to him in hours was for him to leave it alone, let it go, because he really didn't want to have to deal with airport security.

Now, Danny was sitting stiffly four rows ahead, his whole posture screaming 'stay away', probably trying to bore holes in the seat in front with the power of his brain. The thing was though, Steve knew Danny, so he knew that there was something wrong on top of Heather being missing, something Danny really didn't want Steve to know about.

Glancing up at Danny again, Steve nearly jumped out of his skin when the woman next to him spoke. “I can change seats with him if you like?”

“Ma'am?” Steve said, hoping he hadn't twitched as much as he thought he might have. He blamed Danny for it either way.

“I can change seats with your friend,” the woman said, her smile suggesting that she'd made the kind of assumption about their relationship that a lot of others did. “You look like there's things you need to talk about.”

“I can't ask you to do that ma'am,” Steve protested, even though he really did want to try to make Danny tell him what was going on. “You should stay with your husband.”

The old man seated next to the window, who Steve had assumed was asleep, waved his hand dismissively. “Son, we've been sitting next to each other for fifty years. Four hours of peace and quiet'll be a blessing.”

“Jim,” his wife protested with a laugh, punching him on the arm. “See if I rescue you when Janice starts on at you about hardy perennials.” She turned to Steve. “We have a neighbor back home who's a gardening nerd.”

“And where's home?” Steve asked, because he was polite despite what Danny said.

“Pearl River, New York,” the woman answered with a little swell of pride. Steve guessed Pearl River was probably a whole lot nicer than wherever the woman had grown up. “And you, sweetheart, need to stop changing the subject. Sort out whatever's wrong with your friend, and I'll swap back before we land. I'll need to hold Jim's hand if it's bumpy.”

She started gathering her purse, book and bottle of water together, obviously determined to get Danny to swap seats. Steve stood up, feeling a little like he'd been hit by an overly kind force of nature. “Danny might not want to move. He's having a pretty crappy day.”

“Honey,” she said, looking at him like he was an idiot. “I raised three boys and was a high school cheerleading coach for twenty years. He'll move.”

Steve didn't bother sitting back down. Danny was going to end up moving because he wouldn't want to make a scene, even if he could resist the insistent kindness of the woman now standing next to him. Steve had to fight not to smile at his partner's shocked face as he turned around to look at where the woman, and he really must ask Jim her name, was pointing. Whatever she said, Danny was getting out of his seat and stamping towards Steve.

“Don't even think about sitting in the aisle seat,” Danny hissed as he got close, gesturing for Steve to cram himself into the vacated middle seat. “I'm this close to punching you in the face.”

Steve considered arguing for about a microsecond but decided he needed to fix whatever was wrong and if that meant giving Danny the seat on the aisle, then so be it. He folded himself into the seat, wedging his knees into the confined space, wishing the previous occupant didn't have her carry on bag under the seat in front. He'd been in more uncomfortable positions, probably for longer periods of time, but he was usually receiving hazard pay at the time.

Danny threw himself down, crossing his arms and stretching his feet under the seat in front. “So, Steven, what have you been saying to that nice lady that she felt the need to come and force me to talk to you?”

“I didn't say a thing to,” Steve started before turning to the man next to him. “I'm sorry, Jim, I didn't get your wife's name.”

“Enid,” Jim said, not opening his eyes. “Enid Arthurs.”

“I didn't say a thing to Enid,” Steve said, turning back to Danny. “She's just a very perceptive lady.”

“She just decided to swap seats based on the grinding of your teeth?” Danny said, incredulous. “And I imagine she knew we were together by the power of your mind?”

“I don't know Danny, maybe she saw us at the gate,” Steve snapped, getting annoyed with his partner. “I don’t really care, and I don't think you do either. I know you Danny. I know you've got something you don’t want to tell me and all this,” Steve waved his hand at the other man trying to indicate the barely contained anger and the stupid arguments, “this, is nothing but a smoke screen.”

Danny gaped at him. Steve, despite being pretty ticked off, took a moment to savor the rare sight of his partner silenced, not by what he called gratuitous explosions, but by Steve's insight into his motives and emotions. For all he brushed off Danny's comments that he was some kind of socially retarded, unfeeling robot, they did hurt a little. He wasn't a robot, the stab of betrayal whenever he thought about Doris and her scheming disproved that. And, while sometimes he did cut through all the social convention crap, he could read people.

“So,” Steve said, after he'd given Danny a few moments respite from his verbal battering. “If you want to tell me, now's a pretty good time. If not, then I'll just have to ask your family. Who I think will be pretty damn happy that your friends are willing to do everything they can to help find your sister. And that includes flying all the way across the country with their emotionally stunted son for company.”

Danny blinked at him before his eyes narrowed and Steve knew he'd won. “Hello pot, kettle here,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Yes, I have things to tell you, and no, now is not a pretty good time. In fact, no time is a pretty good time to tell you this, especially not when there's people around to hear it.”

“It can't be that bad, can it?” Steve asked, losing confidence in his statement even as he spoke.

“You say that now,” Danny answered, the anger that had been like armor around him fell away leaving behind just his normal belligerence.

“Come on, D,” Steve urged, nudging his partner's arm with his.

“Okay,” Danny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “My sister is a psychic P.I.”

“A what?”

“A psychic P.I.” Danny repeated, looking like it pained him to say the words. “She investigates ghosts and hauntings and that kind of thing.”

He wasn't sure what he'd expected, given Danny's attitude to telling him, but it wasn't that. It seemed so at odds with what Steve knew of Danny and his family. They were blue collar, working class, people from New Jersey; cops and firefighters, teachers, shop workers. Not fraudsters taking money off of people when they were vulnerable. “And you're okay with that?”

“Of course not,” Danny said, sounding like these were old arguments that had been had many times. “But what can I do? She's an adult, she can do what she wants.”

“But she's taking money under false pretenses,” Steve protested. Mary did some questionable things, things he pretended he didn't know about, but he liked to think he'd do something if she was actively breaking the law.

“It's not false pretenses,” Danny said quietly, looking pained.

Steve's brain stuttered to a halt. This was Danny, the most determined of non-believers, and he was saying he actually thought his sister was psychic. “I know she's your sister, Danny, but...”

“It's not because she's my sister,” the other man insisted quietly, not looking at Steve.

Incredulous, Steve stared. There was no way that Danny was saying what Steve thought he was.

“I know, Steve. I know.”

“But Danny. How can you?”

“I never told you why I didn't want the apartment, did I?” Danny asked, finally looking at Steve. “Not the real reason.”

“You said you didn't trust the apartment complex if they couldn't fix the elevator,” Steve said, repeating the obviously fake reason Danny had given him. “I didn't believe it, but then we caught the ICE case and Jenna, and it just didn't much matter then.”

“I know, babe,” Danny said, patting Steve's knee. He was silent for a few minutes and Steve was on the point of asking questions before he continued. “When I first went to the complex, I spoke to a woman who was out in the garden. She told me about the broken elevator.”

“Yeah,” Steve encouraged, not really sure where his partner was going with his story or how it related to believing in psychics.

“She was right there, Steve, right there, digging the flower beds in her big floppy hat with her little yappy dog.” Danny was looking at Steve like he needed him to really understand. “I've always been able to see them, all my life, but never like that.”

“See what?” Steve asked, not wanting to make any kind of assumption about where the conversation was going.

“Ghosts, Steve,” Danny said quietly.

“But you don't believe in that stuff,” Steve objected, realizing as he said it it was stupid to tell someone else what they believed. “You kept telling me you didn't believe in spirits or anything.”

“I don't believe in them,” Danny replied, managing to look both grim and frustrated at the same time. “Doesn't stop me being able to see the fuckers.”

“But...” Steve started and then ran out of steam because Danny was making no sense.

“It's okay,” Danny said. “I get that it's stupid, but I've hated being able to see them all my life. I hated all the things that them existing meant, all the crap that I don't want to know about. No one else in the squad had to deal with the stuff that makes being a cop really difficult, and it stopped when I moved to Hawaii. Or I thought it had. What if it's just got worse?”

Steve's mind was racing. Danny saw ghosts? Believed in them and didn't try to find some rational explanation for them. He felt like something huge shifted in the universe. “Worse?”

“You know when you see something out of the corner of your eye?” Danny said, seeming to get some of his normal animation back. “But when you turn your head there's nothing there? Well, for me there is. I see, or used to see, shadows of things, of people who died and forgot to move on.”

“And now?”

“Nothing,” Danny said, looking a little lost, like the rug had been pulled from under him. “Not since I came to Hawaii. I hoped it'd gone away, but then I saw Mrs. Kekoa and realized it hadn't. It's worse.”

Danny looked so miserable that Steve had to grab his hand and squeeze it. It probably didn't mean all that much, given what Danny had just told him, but his partner gave him a rueful smile so Steve counted that as a win. “You see them all the time?”

“That's the thing,” Danny said, looking horrified. “I have no idea. They don't look like ghosts anymore. They look just as real as you do.”

“Have you ever...did you, did you see my dad?”

“No,” Danny said, looking like he wished he could say he had. “There's never been anything at your place, which is weird when you think about it. Of all the places where I thought there'd be shadows clinging on, it was there. That's part of why I thought it had gone away.”

“I saw him,” Steve admitted, not quite sure why he was telling Danny because it wasn't like he had his partner's gifts. “Him, Ookala and Keoki. Dad told me he was proud of me. I shook his hand. I felt it. And then he was gone.”

“You felt his hand?” Danny asked, looking vaguely horrified. “I've never heard of that happening. Not with a ghost, at least.”

“You think I imagined it?” Steve asked, not sure whether he really believed it or not himself.

“That's not what I meant,” Danny reassured him, as though Steve might be hurt at the suggestion. “Even Heather can't touch them, and she's the best I've ever seen.”

“There's others?”

“Some,” Danny admitted grudgingly, as though he wished he hadn't brought it up. “But they're a secretive bunch.”

“Except your sister,” Steve said, because he figured you couldn't be a psychic PI without advertising your abilities.

“Except Heather,” Danny sighed, making Steve think it was probably a long running argument.

They were both silent for a few minutes. Steve knew Danny was worrying about what Heather had gotten herself into, and if Steve was any kind of friend he'd be trying to snap him out of his funk, but he needed to digest what Danny had told him.

Ghosts were real, and maybe other things too, if he'd understood what Danny had implied when he'd told him about the handshake. And not only were ghosts real, Danny could see them. Solid, normal, irreligious Danny. Steve had about a billion questions, but he figured the plane wasn't the right place to ask them. There were civilians all around. People who probably didn't need to know that things that went bump in the night might be real.

Steve knew that Danny had been reluctant to tell him about his sister because it sounded so improbable. He could just imagine the ribbing his partner must have gotten from the cops he worked with. Because if they were halfway decent detectives, there was no way they hadn't found out about Heather's PI business.

But to Steve, it kind of made sense. He couldn't really understand why as he'd always been pretty vanilla when it came to his beliefs; God, church on special occasions, a vague sense of something bigger, and a basic respect for other people's faith. He'd never thought about the existence of anything else, not as more than just a story. But somehow, finding out there was more to the world didn't really cause more than a ripple in his view of reality.

He glanced at Danny, to find his partner staring forward, worrying his bottom lip. Steve could imagine most of what Danny was feeling, he'd been through the same when Mary was taken, but he'd at least been close by. And he knew that she'd been kidnapped by humans. Steve didn't have a clue what Heather had gotten herself into, but he suspected that Danny was running all kinds of terrifying scenarios in his head. “We'll find her.”

“I hope you're right,” Danny said, turning to look at him. His partner looked so sad, so lost, that Steve wanted to wrap him in a hug and never let him go.

Steve was trying to sort through how he felt about having all the feelings Danny brought out, when the familiar bing of the fasten seat-belt lights going on snapped him back to reality. He'd been so wrapped up in what they were talking about he'd not noticed the plane was losing altitude as they approached Newark.

“I'd better get back to my seat,” Danny said, unfastening his lap-belt. “Enid said she needed to come back and hold her husband's hand when they landed. I think I was supposed to think it was her who was scared of flying.”

Steve didn't want to let Danny go, but he knew he had to, especially when he could see Enid was already getting up. Danny stood, and Steve followed him out of the row. Enid gave them a pleased little smile when she saw them waiting. “I'll see you when we land,” Steve said, squeezing Danny's bicep.

Danny offered him a tight smile in return, before thanking Enid as she slid into the row, and heading forward to his seat. Steve folded himself back into his own seat before the grumpy faced stewardess coming down the aisle could get to him.

The plane dipped and banked, and Steve closed his eyes. He wasn’t afraid of flying, he just knew that statistically, landing wasn't the safest time on a flight. If he offered a little prayer up for a safe landing, then there was nothing wrong with that, especially when he didn't know the person flying the plane.

And if today that little prayer included a bit of begging that Danny's sister was okay, then he didn't think the god he wanted to believe in would mind. Even if that god had to share his reality with ghosts.


	3. Two

Steve was still trying to digest what Danny had told him when they met at the gate as they deplaned. Danny had already got his phone clamped to his ear, which didn't surprise Steve, and he resigned himself to having to steer them through the airport and to the rental lot.

Hefting his bag, he put his hand on Danny's shoulder to nudge him into motion when the other man confounded him by finishing his conversation. “Uncle Mack's meeting us outside.”

“I thought we were getting a rental?” Steve said, not that he minded not having to drive after that flight.

“No need,” Danny said, a little of his usual swagger appearing in his walk. “We can use mom's. And there's Aunt Betty's eggplant parmigiana waiting for us at my parent's place too.”

“Okay,” Steve said, feeling his heart sink a little. He was happy to save the expense but having to drive whatever sensible car Danny's mom probably had was filling him with horror. It wasn't going to be any use when it came to a pursuit. And eggplant parmigiana was an oil filled, coronary waiting to happen.

“Less with the aneurysm face, Steven,” Danny said, hurrying them through the crowded airport. “We won't be chasing bad guys around at high speed. And you will eat what is put in front of you with a smile and you will thank my mom for it.”

“I don't have aneurysm face,” Steve objected, wishing Danny couldn’t read him like a book sometimes.

“Babe,” was all Danny said, with a look of such affection that it nearly took Steve's breath away.

Dodging families with straying kids, businessmen and women on their phones, tourists who didn't know where they were going, they pushed through crowds heading for arrivals. Danny was moving with ease and confidence, like he had home-field advantage and Steve couldn't help but smile to himself. This was Danny in his natural environment, and as much as it pained him to think of his partner anywhere else but Hawai'i, it was good to see him in a more relaxed mood.

Arrivals was a mess of humanity, and Steve wondered how they were ever going to find their ride, until Danny veered off towards an enormous, bearded man, who grinned at them both. “Uncle Mack.”

“Daniel Williams,” the giant of a man rumbled, catching Danny's hand and pulling the smaller man in for a hug. “It's been too long, son.”

Danny might have replied, but if he did it was lost somewhere in the man's chest. Uncle Mack wasn't the tallest or most muscled man Steve had ever met, but he somehow managed to look like the side of a mountain had broken off, put on a shirt and driven to the airport to meet them. His bearded face had a kind of granite calm that made the presidents on Mount Rushmore look animated.

Danny pulled away and turned to Steve, his face open and happy for the first time since he'd heard the news about his sister. Steve felt a little stab of jealousy that he hadn't been the one to bring about that change, but squashed it down. “Steve, this is Mack Jonsson, dad's best friend from the station. Mack, this is Commander Steve McGarrett, my partner at Five-0.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Steve said, sticking out a hand to shake the Mack's. He almost flinched when his fingers disappeared into the other man's massive fist, but the grip was surprisingly gentle.

“You too, Commander.”

“Steve, please,” he corrected, not wanting Danny's family and friends to stand on ceremony around him.

“Only if you call me Mack,” the man said, smiling at Steve as he finally let go of his hand. Somewhere in his chest Steve felt something loosen, the tension he hadn't realized was nagging at him, making him wonder if Danny's family would accept him being there. It probably showed on his face because Danny grinned at him, before turning and following Mack outside.

It didn't take long to get to Mack's car and stow their carry-on bags in the trunk. Steve got in the back seat, because he did have manners, thank you Danny. They were pulling on to the Jersey Turnpike before anyone mentioned Heather's disappearance.

“I went to see Nana,” Mack said, and Steve got the impression there was more meaning behind the statement than just visiting a grandparent.

“I told Steve about Heather,” Danny said, glancing over his shoulder at Steve. “And me.”

“That's good.” Mack looked at Steve in the rear view mirror, obviously trying to gauge what he thought of it all. “Although I bet you didn't tell him nearly enough to answer all his questions.”

“We were on a plane,” Danny defended himself, flicking Steve a vaguely guilty look that made him wonder how much more there was to know. “What did Nana say?”

“She doesn't know where Heather is,” Mack said with a sigh.

“And you believe her?” Danny asked, making Steve wonder what kind of grandmother lied about knowing where her granddaughter was.

“I do,” Mack reassured, sliding the car between lanes to pass a couple of slow moving trucks. “She's worried about something too, something other than Heather.”

“Good for her,” Danny said, a little bitterly. “I'll go and see Marie and see what she knows.”

“Who's Marie?” Steve asked, feeling like that was safer ground than asking why Danny's grandmother sounded like such a bitch.

“She's a friend,” Danny hedged, obviously evading Steve's question.

“Danny,” Mack chided, his voice a rumble of disapproval. “Steve's here to help and hasn't freaked out yet. Let him in.”

“Okay,” Danny sighed, after a few moments. “Marie's a medium, over in Brooklyn. I've worked with her a couple of times. She'll probably be able to help.”

“You've worked with her?”

“Yeah,” Danny said, sounding like it was some massive cause of shame. “I hated doing it, but sometimes there were cases that just needed a bit of a nudge along.”

“Or they weren't police cases,” Mack added, looking meaningfully at Danny.

“Yes okay, sometimes there were things that needed dealing with outside the law,” Danny admitted, like it physically hurt to say it aloud. “And don't you take that as an excuse to start tossing people in shark cages or hanging them off buildings again.” Danny had turned around to face Steve. “I've finally gotten that trained out of you. So me admitting that there are occasionally, very occasionally mind you,” he said, wagging his finger at Steve in a way that just made the SEAL grin, “circumstances that require people to work outside the system.”

“Trained it out of me?” Steve asked, his eyebrows going up in amusement.

“Yes,” Danny said, smirking right back at Steve. “Using a cunning system of reward and reinforcement. Just like training a dog. If you do it again, I'll whap you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.”

Mack laughed. “That, I'd like to see.”

“Yeah, me too,” Steve said with a grin.

“Both of you are so not funny,” Danny grumped, but with a glint of good humor in his eyes that belied his words. Steve was surprised how much weight seemed to have been lifted off Danny's shoulders once he'd shared his secret. It didn't change the fact his sister was still missing, but he guessed that knowing that his partner had his back no matter what made Danny's load lighter. Steve just hoped he would be able to take more of that weight when his friend needed him to.

Danny couldn't say he was happy to be sitting in his ma's kitchen, not given the circumstances, but the sense of familiar warmth spreading through his chest was a welcome relief. It seemed like an eternity since he'd heard the news about Heather, even though it was actually just under eighteen hours, but he finally felt like he wasn't swimming against the tide. There was also the little thrill of seeing Steve sitting at the table, eating his food with what looked like genuine relish. That was something Danny wasn't going to admit to anyone.

Since Steve had learned the truth, he could be counted on as an asset and now they could do something to find his sister. He knew, realistically, that his family and Heather's friends, hadn't been sitting around doing nothing, but the cop in him was saying he and Steve would make a difference.

Of course the part of him that still felt the guilt of losing his brother to the dark side was whispering in his ear. 'There's nothing you can do' it said. 'Heather's gone for good.' But he was determinedly ignoring it. He just needed to get some decent food inside him, catch up on what everyone scattered around the house knew, and then he could get out and start looking.

“Mack said you're going to see Marie,” his mom said, sitting down next to him and serving him more eggplant parmigiana without him asking.

“Seems like a good place to start,” Danny said, waving away his mom's attempt to give him even more food. “Unless you guys got anything else.”

“You should wait until tomorrow morning,” his mom said, managing to get another portion of food onto Steve's plate before he could stop her.

“Seriously?” Danny asked, nearly chocking on his mouthful of food. “Heather's been missing for days and we should wait?”

“You're both exhausted,” his mom said firmly. “You need to get some sleep.”

Danny knew he was often guilty of reading suspects better than those closest to him, but he could tell there was something his mom was trying to not say. He glanced at Steve, who was determinedly looking at his plate but wasn't shoveling his food down with the gusto he'd shown a few moments ago. If Danny even hinted he wanted to be alone with his mom, he knew Steve would be out of the room so fast they'd probably not even see him move.

But Danny realized he wanted him there. Steve was his partner, his best friend, and right now one of the best chances they had at finding Heather. If that meant letting someone from outside his family in on a really well kept secret, then so be it.

“Did you need us to stay here tonight?” Danny asked, watching his mom carefully. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Steve look up, frowny-baffled face in full effect.

“I just think it'd be better if you were looking a bit more human when you went and spoke to your friend,” his mom replied, getting up from the table, the empty water jug in her hand giving her the excuse for moving. Her movements were sharp and her shoulders were so tense he could almost see the knots from the other side of the kitchen. Even someone who didn't know his mom would be able to tell she was avoiding Danny's question.

But Danny did know her. And he knew she saw glimpses of the future in much the same way as he saw shadows of the dead. He also knew she would never, ever tell anyone directly what she saw, claiming the future was tricky and liked to mess with you if you tried to pin it down.

“Okay,” Danny said, knowing he'd have some explaining to do to Steve later. He just hoped his mom was right. “We'll swing by Heather's office first thing tomorrow and then go over to Brooklyn.”

“You're a good boy,” his mom said, her shoulders relaxing. She came back to the table with a full jug of water. “You too, Steve. Coming all this way.”

“Not a problem, ma'am,” Steve managed, even though Danny could tell that all he wanted to do was ask what just happened.

“I told you already, it's Barbara,” his mom admonished kindly, patting Steve's hand. “And try not to call Bob Mr Williams. He won't tell you not to, but it makes him feel old.”

“I am old,” his dad said from the doorway behind Danny. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn't call me Bob.”

“Yes sir,” Steve said, making both of Danny's parents roll their eyes.

His dad came into the room, kissed his mom on the top of her head as he passed, and sat at the table. “Mack's gone home.”

“Good,” his mom said, pouring her husband a cup of coffee from the pot on the table. “He needs to get some rest.”

“I think we all do,” his dad said, slumping down in his seat and looking suddenly older than his fifty eight years. “It's been a long two days.”

“We'll find her, Pop,” Danny said, because he couldn't bear his dad looking so sad. “You know we won't stop looking until we bring her home.”

“I know,” his dad sighed. “It's just, well, it's not any easier because she's an adult.”

Danny flashed to the frantic few hours where Grace was missing, kidnapped by Peterson, and felt his chest tighten with remembered anxiety. It must have shown on his face because Steve squeezed his hand.

“We'll find her,” Steve said, and Danny knew it was a promise, even if he didn't say the words. He really hoped that circumstances weren't going to make Steve break his promise.

Steve wiped his hands on the towel, before turning back to the basin and looking in the mirror above it. He looked like shit, which he supposed wasn't all that surprising. He'd had less sleep before, but right now he felt strained, like his skin was stretched too tight. He was exhausted, but way too wired to actually sleep.

Danny's sister was missing, which was worrying enough on its own, but on top of that there was the discovery that the world was very different from everything he thought he knew. Steve was trying to get his head around it, and was pretty pleased with himself for not freaking out. But he thought that maybe it was because he'd not actually seen any proof of it himself, and wondered what he'd do if Danny started talking to things Steve couldn't see.

He'd also made a stupid promise, even though he wanted to fully believe it, to find Heather no matter what. Steve knew he shouldn't make promises like that, every book on police procedure told you not to, but it was impossible not to when it was family.

And Danny's family were his family. Not just because Danny was probably the best friend he'd ever had, but because they'd welcomed him like he was already part of it. When he thought how his own mother had treated Danny he was so ashamed, even more so now he saw how he was treated by Danny's own family. The family were under a terrible strain, and yet they'd still made him so welcome.

He'd expected to feel out of place, just there to run the investigation so Danny could be there for his family. Instead Mrs Williams had hugged him for nearly as long as she'd hugged her son, and his dad had looked so damn grateful it made Steve's eyes prick.

He wanted to get on with looking for Heather, but something had gone on at the dinner table between Danny and his mom which meant they were staying at the house. He really wanted to ask what had happened but he hadn't had the chance because he hadn't had a moment alone with Danny.

The small house was packed with people. Before joining the adults downstairs, Danny's youngest sister Bethan, had put her little boys down to sleep as soon as they arrived. They were in, what Steve assumed had been her and Heather's old room, when they were kids. Steve and Danny would be sleeping in the room Danny and Matt had shared when they were younger, which was now clearly Grace's room. Danny had grudgingly admitted that there was no way that Steve could possibly fit into the pink princess bed, and as funny as it would be to see, there was no way he could even let him try. Steve would be on an inflatable guest mattress that looked really inviting when they'd dropped their bags in the room.

Downstairs, filling up the lounge, were family, friends and neighbors who Steve couldn’t quite keep track of. He knew everyone's names, he made sure of that, but their exact relationships to the Williamses seemed to be something he was destined to never know. As soon as he was certain he'd placed Mrs Beshevsky, who'd brought a bag of beautiful juicy plums from her garden, as their neighbor from when Danny was a kid, he'd found out that she was also married to Mrs Williams' second cousin on her dad's side. He had always thought the Kelly – Kalakaua clan was complicated, but it had nothing on the reach of the Williams family. A family that you never left, even when your sister divorced from it. That was evidenced by the fact that Danny and his dad were on a Skype call to Rachel's brother in England.

Also everyone brought food, which he kind of expected, but then they were happy to sit down and eat it too, which he hadn't. Mrs Williams seemed to spend all her time feeding people as they came and went, something he was sure his own mother would resent, but she seemed happiest in her kitchen. He'd even done his best to cheer her up by eating two portions of Aunt Betty's eggplant parmigiana. He'd been terrified it was going to be the usual slick of oil but however she made it, Aunt Betty had managed to produce something tasty and not swimming in fat. He might still feel the need to run it off tomorrow, but it wasn't an instant coronary.

“You fallen in?” Danny said, knocking on the door of the bathroom.

“What would you do if I didn't answer?” Steve asked, unable to help the smile that crept onto his face as he dried his hands. “Bust down the door and pull me out?”

“I'd probably let you have your freak out in peace,” Danny admitted quietly, as Steve opened the door. “It's a lot to take in.”

“The ghosts stuff is fine,” Steve said, because it kind of was. “It's the number of people in the living room that's a bit scary.”

Danny grinned at him, Steve's admission pushing a little of the worry out of his friend's eyes. “Nothing brings the Williamses out of the woodwork like a crisis. We have a house full if anyone gets a paper cut.”

The current situation was a bit more than a paper cut, but Steve didn't want to damage Danny's mood by mentioning it. He wanted to let everything lie, let Danny forget for a few minutes if he was able, but he needed to know why they weren't starting the hunt yet.

“What did your mom mean?” Steve asked, clarifying when he realized that his question made little sense. “About staying in this evening?”

“Oh, that,” Danny said. Some of the tension that had nearly eaten his partner alive before he'd told Steve about the ghosts creeping back into his face.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me, but it'll make more sense if you do.” Steve had learned over the years that pushing Danny, especially when it was actually important, didn't really do any good. Danny didn't look at him, just stared down at the carpet, chewing his lip. Arms crossed, leaning against the bathroom door frame, Steve waited and watched his partner work through whatever was worrying him.

“My mom,” Danny started hesitantly, still not meeting Steve's eyes. “She can see the future.”

“What?” That made Steve stand up straight. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Danny said, risking a quick glance at Steve. “Not all the time, not on demand, just sometimes.”

“And what did she see?” Steve had wondered about Mrs Williams apparent calmness and good humor ever since they arrived, and maybe this explained it.

“I don’t know,” Danny said, turning to face Steve fully. “She never tells us exactly what she sees.”

“What's the use in seeing it then?”

“She didn't ask to be able to, Steven,” Danny said, obviously angered by the question, which Steve supposed was a little stupid. “And she says that every time she's tried to tell anyone something directly, it changes. She doesn't know why, it's just the way it is.”

Okay,” Steve conceded, letting the subject drop even though he knew he'd be trying to work it out. May be he could talk to Mrs Williams later, ask her about why she thought it happened. It'd probably make Danny tell him he was unbearably rude, but it was interesting, and irritated the logical part of his brain.

“All I know is that it's best to do as she asks in situations like this” Danny explained, sticking his hands in his pockets like he needed help containing himself. “Even if I want to be out there looking so much it's almost killing me to stay in the house.”

“We could call Kono and Chin,” Steve suggested, mostly to distract Danny, but also because he missed the other half of his team.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, his face brightening a little. “That's actually a good idea.”

“I have them occasionally,” Steve said, hoping to get a rise out of Danny.

“Danny?” Mr Williams yelled from downstairs, before his son could answer. “There's someone to see you.”

Danny cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows at Steve. “Wonder if this is why mom said I should stay in?”

“Let's hope so.”

“Come on then,” Danny said, heading down the stairs. “No point in you not being there, because I'll just have to tell you what happened later if you aren't.”

~H50~

Danny jogged down the stairs and turned into the hall, towards the front door. Of all the people he thought might be calling on him, Dwight Mellet wasn't one of them. It wasn't that they hated one another, really, it was just easier for everyone if they avoided working together. Or being in the same room.

Mellet was a big guy, more flab than muscle, who had become a cop, as far as Danny could tell, because of the power it gave him and not to help people. He wasn't stupid, not by a long shot, but he was arrogant, narrow-minded and unimaginative. If Jersey City could have rednecks, Mellet was one of them. Okay, Danny probably hated him.

“Mellet,” Danny said, squaring his shoulders for whatever confrontation was coming his way. “This is a surprise.”

“Williams,” the man said, his eyes drifting over Danny's shoulder to where Steve clattered down the stairs. “Can we talk?”

To give Mellet his due, it was a fair question, given Steve was no doubt looming behind him, glowering like an over-protective bodyguard. Whatever Mellet had to say, Danny didn't want him to say it in front of the family, so given how full the house was with everyone his mom had ever met, the stoop seemed the best place to talk. “Outside.”

Mellet turned around, and Danny followed him out. Steve was right behind him, pulling the front door closed and leaning against the rail at the top of the steps down to the street. Mellet sat on the little bench that had been the sight of more teenaged canoodling, as his grandmother called it, than Danny cared to think about.

Crossing his arms, Danny stood next to Steve, and felt a sudden flash of memory of a hundred interviews back in Hawaii. Mellet must have felt it too, because he shifted uneasily in the seat, despite the pugnacious look on his face.

“Who's your friend?” he asked, tilting his chin at Steve.

“Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett,” Danny said, even though he didn't want to chat to Mellet. “My partner at Five-0.”

“Five-0?” Mellet asked, and Danny sighed. It was so much easier when everyone knew what that meant.

“Governor's special task force,” Steve said quickly, obviously picking up on Danny's mood. “Back in Hawai'i.”

“Special task force, huh?” Mellet was impressed, Danny could tell, even though he obviously didn't want to be. And from experience he knew that Mellet was the sort of guy who became a complete asshole when he thought someone else was getting things he deserved.

“What do you want?” Danny asked, hoping to get to the point of this discussion and find out if this was the reason Danny's mom insisted they stay home.

“Look, I know we've never really seen eye to eye,” Mellet said, and Danny couldn't help his amused snort, which Mellet ignored. “And then you moved on to major cases so I suppose we didn't really cross paths, but, you know, I hear things.”

“What things?” Steve demanded, straightening up into full on threatening SEAL mode, before Danny could speak.

“Things that not everyone needs to know,” Mellet said, managing to sound remarkably calm. He flicked a significant look at Danny, head cocked just a little in Steve's direction, and suddenly he knew what the other man wasn't saying.

“It's okay, Steve knows about it,” Danny said, keeping his answer purposely vague, because who knew what Mellet really knew.

“Oh, okay.” Mellet took a breath and pulled a leather bound notebook out of his coat pocket. “My gramma lives out in South Orange, right next to South Mountain Reservation. Her backyard's pretty much in the park.”

“That's nice,” Danny said slightly snidely, because he wanted Mellet to get on with whatever it was he needed to say.

“Right, I know,” Mellet agreed, totally missing Danny's point. “She's always out there, walking her dogs, enjoying the place. Really knows all the wildlife and stuff.”

“And?” Steve said, obviously getting as impatient as Danny was.

“Look, this isn't easy, man,” Mellet protested, frustrated and angry at Steve and Danny, and probably at himself. “I don't believe in all the weird shit you do, I just know that sometimes there's crap that I don’t want to deal with. And this is kind of really weird, okay?”

“Just tell us,” Danny said, feeling way more sympathy for the man than he'd ever expected.

“Gramma called me last week,” Mellet said, obviously deciding to just go for it and damn what they thought. “She said she'd seen the Jersey Devil.”

“A Devil?” Danny asked, stunned.

“Aren't they supposed to be in the Pine Barrens?” Danny looked at Steve, finding himself surprised, despite all he knew about the other man. Not that Steve actually knew about Jersey Devils, most people did, but rather that he'd clearly spent sometime memorizing the names of towns and parks in New Jersey.

“You know where South Orange is?” Danny demanded of his partner.

“The Reservation,” Steve clarified, looking at Danny like he was mad.

“You took time out to learn where all the parks were?” Danny asked, surprised, even though he shouldn't be. “In case we needed to commune with the trees? Did you think all this civilization might get a bit much for you?”

“Knowing your environment is important, Danno,” Steve said seriously.

“You guys are really on a special task force?” Mellet interrupted before Danny could say anything else.

Danny glared at Mellet. “So, Jersey Devil?”

“Yeah,” Mellet said, with a sigh. “And yeah, kind of mad, and yeah, not in the right place. But she was really insistent, and pretty shaken up. She's a real sensible lady, you know, real sensible. So this was, just weird. I went out there a couple of days ago and looked around. Just to put her mind at rest, you know.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, because it was what you did for family.

“I didn’t expect to find anything,” Mellet said softly, and Danny could see just a little bit of fear creeping into his eyes. “And I didn't, really. Except this notebook full of weird satanic shit. And the feeling someone was walking over my grave.”

Danny reached for the notebook, and Mellet passed it over to him, continuing to talk even as Danny leafed through the pages. “It was lying in the grass near a clearing in the woods. I didn’t know what to do with it, until I heard you were back in town.”

“How did you know he was back?” Danny heard Steve, bless his paranoid little heart, ask, barely listening to the conversation as he started to realize what the book was. He recognized the writing,

“My old partner works at the airport,” Mellet said, but Danny was already talking over him.

“It's Heather's,” he said to Steve, ignoring the other man. “I gotta go and read it.”

Danny was already through the door as he heard Steve say “his sister's missing.” He didn't hear what Mellet's reply, and he didn't care. He had a clue, a big one, and all he cared about was reading his sister's journal, and working out what the hell she was doing in the woods. Other than chasing a seriously lost Jersey Devil that is.


	4. Three

Steve stared up into the darkness and wished he could sleep. Danny was in the bed across the room, sacked out and snoring the snores of the exhausted. But Steve's brain wouldn't stop whirring. He was bone tired too, but so much had happened since yesterday, or possibly the day before depending on the time, and he needed to process it. He just wished his brain would process it in the morning.

He thought he'd mostly dealt with the whole ghost thing because it was kind of easy to get his head around, although there was no way to be sure until he saw Danny interact with one. He'd seen his own dad, after all, and accepting ghosts were real was a lot simpler than admitting he might have been hallucinating at the time. If it was just about ghosts, he thought he'd probably be asleep by now. But it was so much more.

Once Mellet had left, Steve had expected Danny to dismiss the idea of Jersey Devils, even though the notebook was obviously Heather's. Instead, Danny had buried himself in the journal and it was up to the massed ranks of the Williams clan to fill him in on a few truths.

Ghosts and vague premonitions were just the tip of the iceberg, Danny's mom had explained, as he sipped a beer and she drank her nightly glass of red wine. To give her credit, she'd tried to ease him into it gently, but there was only so much beating around the bush you could do until you had to say the words no sane person should have to hear.

Magic was real and Danny was pretty damn good at using it.

It still made no sense, really, not when he tried to fit it into the things he knew about Danny. His partner was a down to earth, skeptical kind of guy, who rolled his eyes at the mention of religion or any kind of belief. And yet, according to his own mother, he was one of the most gifted wizards in the world. She hadn't used the word wizard, explaining that even before Harry Potter, practitioner was the word chosen by those in the know. Unsurprisingly, the world J.K. Rowling described wasn’t an accurate representation of real magic, and was a bit of a sore spot with Danny, as Grace loved the movies. Steve filed that away for later, and tried to assimilate everything Mrs Williams was telling him.

Magic was real, so were things that could be summoned, even if everyone was pretty sure they weren't really demons in the fallen angel sense. Spells weren't a single shouted phrase, instead they were complex things that had to be learned over many years, and then built and shaped from the power a practitioner could pull from within themselves. Really big spells, major works Mrs Williams had called them, required a lot of time to form before they were cast. This made them kind of hard to use in the spontaneous situations that he and Danny usually operated in.

Vampires, werewolves, elves, trolls and practically every other kind of supernatural creature he'd heard of, didn't exist, at least not in the form described in books and movies. 'Most of the stories come from idiots doing something stupid and the magic turning on them,' she'd told him, her face reflecting just what she thought of people who fooled around with things they didn't understand and couldn't control. He shuddered at the idea of what could go so wrong that it made people believe in werewolves.

There was a kind of magical network that policed the 'weird shit' as Mr Williams called it, much to the displeasure of his wife. Danny had dealt with his fair share, but preferred to focus on his normal police work. Heather, meanwhile, had thrown herself fully into the stranger side of things, opening her psychic detective agency. Bethan and Matt took after their father, and hadn't inherited the abilities from their mother. But even they had acted as willing volunteers when they could, facing down some pretty frightening stuff alongside their siblings and friends.

Once Mrs Williams had explained how everything worked, how much planning was needed to do pretty much anything magical, Steve felt some of the residual anger at Danny for not using all his skills on the job fade. Steve hadn't mentioned seeing his dad's ghost to anyone, especially Danny, because he didn't want either the sympathy or the mocking. So he certainly understood why Danny hadn't told anyone about it while using as much magic as he could.

“Will you quit thinking,” Danny said from across the room, his voice muffled and sleepy. “I can hear your cogs turning from over here.”

“Sorry,” Steve said, even though he knew he'd done nothing to wake his partner. “Jetlag, I guess.”

“Right,” Danny scoffed, rolling over to face Steve. “And finding out the world's full of weird shit is nothing to do with it?”

“May be just a little,” Steve admitted with a quiet laugh. Danny could always see through him, even if this time it was pretty obvious.

“It's been a lot to take in,” Danny said, leaning up and resting on his elbow. “And I know you're a super special SEAL, able to leap tall tales in a single bound, but you've got to have some questions.”

Steve did have questions, that was true, but they needed to sleep. Tomorrow they were going to see the medium called Marie, over in Brooklyn. Danny thought she'd be able to help, especially now he'd worked through the journal. “You can answer them in the morning.”

“In the morning?” Danny asked, clearly amused by Steve's suggestion. “And in the mean time I have to lie here and smell your circuits burning? I don’t think so, babe. How about I answer your top three questions now? Then you can turn off your brain and get some sleep.”

“I'm fine,” he argued, even though he wished he could stop his mind racing. “I've worked on less sleep.”

“I know. You're superman,” Danny said fondly, and Steve could see his smile in the dim light that seeped in around the edge of the curtains. “But humor me here.”

Steve knew he would never win the argument, no matter how tired Danny was, because the other man had decided Steve needed fixing and he never once let that go. Trying to sort out all the things he wanted to know, he put them in order. There were huge gaps to fill, and he knew once he got some answers, there’d be even more questions. So he tried to find three, easy to answer things he could ask.

“Is the Jersey Devil real?” he asked, because it seemed the most relevant. Possibly.

“No,” Danny said with more finality than Steve expected. “Not like all the legends anyway. Deborah Leeds did not give birth to a devil, although from what I understand, more than one of her brood was the sort of child the gang intervention unit would be interested in these days.”

“How do you know that?”'

“Is that your next question? Cos it's kind of dumb?

“No!” Steve snapped, because he wanted to know, but it wasn't going to keep him awake if he didn’t get an answer right now. “This is like getting three wishes. I'm trying not to wish for a Longboard or a smaller nose or something.”

“You wish you had a smaller nose?” Danny asked, sounding genuinely baffled.

“No, but that’s the sort of stupid thing people wish for by accident, isn't it? In fairly tales.”

“Your brain is a very strange place,” Danny said, sounding like he was genuinely surprised by the fact, despite regularly pointing it out to Steve.

“If it's not the Jersey Devil, what's Heather been investigating?” Steve asked, not rising to Danny's bait, even though he would have enjoyed the argument that would have followed. Danny needed sleep and he wasn't going to keep him awake longer than he had to.

“You talked to my ma, right?” Danny asked, shifting in the bed so he could sit up and move his arms. “And she told you about summoning demons?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, propping himself up on his elbow.

“Well, it's a demon,” Danny said, like that should answer all Steve's questions.

“But what are demons?” he had to ask, because just calling something a demon didn't really help at all. All he knew about demons could be written on the back of a postcard and it was all wrong according to what Mrs Williams had told him.

“Is that your third question?”

“If it has to be,” Steve said, more than a little frustrated by his lack of knowledge.

“Babe, you're such a goof,” Danny said with a grin, and Steve couldn't help but grin back. “Demons are things that live in dimensions outside ours. Don't ask me about the physics of why these dimensions exist, because I was never that hot at math, and I have no idea if even Stephen Hawking knows how demon dimensions work.”

“You think he knows they exist?” Steve asked, wondering suddenly if the government knew about the existence of demons, magic and ghosts. “Maybe it's why we can't come up with a grand unifying theory. Because everyone's trying to ignore demon dimensions.”

“Nerd,” Danny said, pretending to disguise it as a cough.

“Yeah, that's me,” Steve agreed, with a grin. “President of the chess club, living in fear of getting swirlies from the jocks.”

“If we come up against a demon, please don't try to study it,” Danny said, suddenly serious again. “In fact, I need you to promise me that you'll avoid contact with any demon, or anything else we have the misfortune to come across.”

“You think I'm just going to stand back if you're in danger?” Steve asked, almost amused that Danny thought he could keep him in the background. “You told me to not go off on my own, that my problems were your problems. You think it doesn't work the other way?”

“This isn't an international terrorist,” Danny said, turning to face him. “This isn't anything you have any training for. At all.”

“I know that, Danny.” Steve sat up too, because arguing about the big things in life shouldn't be done lying down. “But there's just no way that I'll be able to back off and let you deal with things on your own.”

“But...”

“And you wouldn't be able to either, if the roles were reversed.”

Danny sighed, settling back down in the bed. “Yeah, you're right. Just promise me you'll try to follow my instructions. I know you ignore me about police procedure, because you think you know better, but for this, you have to listen to me because you have zero experience about this.”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve agreed, also sliding back down the bed. “And I don't ignore you, I just disagree and don't have a chance to tell you because you never shut up long enough.”

“You're such a comedian,” Danny grumbled, snuggling back down in the bed and pulling the covers up over his shoulders. “Ask your third question.”

“I thought that was my last one,” Steve said, trying to decide what his final question of the night should be now he had another chance. Before he was going to be any use to Danny, he needed to know so much more. But all the questions he could think of were so broad he'd end up keeping them both awake until dawn.

“Come on, before I fall asleep again.”

“I don't know what to ask,” he said, hoping he didn't sound as whiny as he felt. “I don’t know what I don't know.”

“I'm sorry to dump all this on you,” Danny said, sounding so contrite Steve seriously thought about getting out of bed and hugging him. Before he could move though, his partner carried on. “Shall I tell you a story instead? One that's classified, as it were?”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, settling himself down in the bed. He'd heard Danny telling Grace stories, seemingly plucking them out of the air, and weaving a whole world of magic and kick-ass princesses for her to inhabit. The idea of Danny spinning him a tale, even if it was based on a reality unlike the ones he told Grace, felt like the best gift anyone could give him. Realizing he was feeling a little needy, Steve decided he was going to let himself have this one, given that his whole world view had been pretty much destroyed in the past day.

“Okay,” Danny said, settling himself in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Steve rolled on his side, watching his partner summon up the story. “So, there's loads of things I could tell you, and one day I probably will, but this one's going to be educational, like all good fairy tales at bedtime.”

“They're educational?” Steve asked, wondering what Rapunzel or Snow White were really trying to teach him.

“Yes, at least the original ones were,” Danny said, rolling over a little and facing Steve. “They were supposed to teach people not to mess with magic, or magical creatures, but most of them seem to have turned into telling little girls to be pretty and wait to be rescued. I try to make sure Grace gets some stories with a little bit more Buffy and less Disney.”

“I liked Brave,” Steve admitted, remembering the evening he'd spent on the sofa with Danny, Grace sandwiched between them.

“Yeah.” Danny grinned at him, obviously thinking back to the same evening. “Grace loved it too, that you watched it with her. You know, despite being a mad, oo-rah nutcase, you're pretty good about not treating women as helpless.”

“You've met Kono, right?” Steve laughed, but he was glad Danny thought he was trying his best. The military wasn't necessarily the best place to learn, and he wasn't sure his dad would have been as accommodating as he tried to be.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed with a yawn. “Can you imagine how much she'd kick you in the head if you tried to treat her like a princess?”

“So, story,” Steve said, not wanting to keep Danny awake longer than he had to.

“Yeah, okay,” Danny agreed. “Back before Rachel, I worked a lot of night shifts. And I mean a lot. I didn't mind trading shifts with pretty much anyone who asked, especially if they had kids. I liked being out at night, because demons and the people who want to summon them like a good cliche, and are more active at night.”

“I didn't actively go out looking for the stuff, still don't, but I can't ignore it if I see it. Downtown at night is mostly idiot drunks, minor assaults, robberies and small drug busts. The big stuff was handled by the task force, so us beat cops had time to get to know a few of the regulars, especially the homeless ones. Newark in winter isn't somewhere you choose to live on the streets.

Anyway, I started noticing they were disappearing. I didn't think anything of it at first. They come and go, get into a shelter, try to get clean, die, move away, you know? But they kept not being there and the ones who were left started whispering stories about things that came in the night and stole people.”

“A demon?” Steve asked.

“I didn't know for sure,” Danny said, yawning again. “It could have been nothing, or a human serial killer. Hell, it could even have been someone turning up and forcibly taking people to get them clean. Patrol a big city long enough and not much would surprise you.”

“I didn't tell anyone, and looking back I kind of wish I had, but I know no one would have believed me. No cops, anyway. I should have told Mom or Mack, but I thought I could do it all on my own. I was a cop and I knew about magic, so I figured I could handle anything that was out there.”

“Is this story supposed to be teaching me not to go running off and doing my own thing?” Steve asked with a smirk. “Because I know that one already.”

“No babe,” Danny said with a sigh. “This is a story about just how horrifying the things that go bump in the night can be.”

“Oh.” Steve hadn't expected that answer, which he now realized was stupid. No one he'd spoken to earlier had specifically mentioned demons killing people, although it was implied, and he hadn't really thought through just how bad it could be.

“I decided the best way to work out what was going on was to track the homeless folks and see what happened. I obviously couldn't do that by normal means so I created some magical trackers to hand out to the homeless. I couldn't give them anything they were likely to lose, give away or get stolen, so I used socks.”

“Magic socks?”

“Yeah, I know. But they were likely to keep them. The socks weren't too expensive for me to buy.and they weren't so valuable that it meant they got robbed. And it had the added bonus of keeping their feet warm.”

“Genius,” Steve said with a laugh, knowing he didn't always give Danny the credit he deserved for his smartness.

“A poor genius, then. Even the cheapest socks made a dent in my pay that month, but it was worth it. I created a spell that reacted to other magic, and charged the socks with it. I gave them out in my off hours and waited.”

Danny paused, and even though Steve knew it was only to add some kind of drama to the story, he couldn't help prompting the other man. “And?”

“And nothing. For days. I actually began to think it was all in my imagination. Then, I was patrolling one night, thankfully on my own, and I felt one of the trackers go off. I radioed in I was going on a break, and then went to investigate.”

“I followed it into an alley a few blocks from the Prudential center. It was full of dumpsters and trash, and stank like the city dump on a summer's day. In amongst the crap there was a guy cowering against the wall with a demon hovering over him.”

“What did you do?”

“Not enough,” Danny said sadly, and Steve guessed what was coming. “I shouted a warning, habit I guess. The thing just turned and grinned at me. I'm not sure how I know that because it didn't have a fucking face, but it did, I swear. It was like a cloud of purple needles, swarming like bees, but completely silent.”

“Jesus,” Steve breathed.

“It's not the weirdest thing I've seen by far, but it was creepy as fuck. I took a shot at it. It works, sometimes, but I didn't really expect it to. The thing didn't even react, just surrounded the homeless guy and then seemed to vanish. I thought, maybe, I'd scared it away, and I went to check on the guy. I got about ten feet away and he exploded.”

“Shit.”

“He was looking at me, right in the eye, and he was so scared. And then he just burst apart into a cloud of blood that just hung there in the air, like a frozen horror movie. The needles flew through it, feeding on it I guess, and I just stood there like a fucking idiot, watching.”

“Christ.”

“I know,” Danny said sounding so guilty that Steve wanted to go over and wrap his arms around his partner to try to offer whatever comfort he could. “His name was Gus. He fought in Vietnam, and I suppose he had PTSD or something. He got a bit rowdy if he had too much to drink, but mostly he was a nice guy.”

“You got it in the end, right?” Steve asked, knowing there was no point in telling Danny it wasn't his fault, even though there was clearly nothing he could have done.

“Yeah. Me, Mack and Heather cornered it under Penn Station and killed it with a fire and salt spell.”

“Fire and salt?” Steve asked, wanting to let Danny sleep but unable to let the few loose ends go just yet.

“It's the magical equivalent of burning the fields and salting the earth,” Danny explained, obviously trying to find the right words to describe it to someone who was new to the whole thing. “I bound it with a magic circle and then Heather threw a kind of magical cage over it to stop it sucking in any power once I let go of the circle. Once she had it caged, I imploded the circle. That kills it, at least in this dimension, but it's still kind of out there, somewhere. And someone could call it back if they tried hard enough and fed it enough power. So we cast a salting spell to make sure that couldn't happen. It's like putting a booby trap on the demon, so that if anyone tries to summon it, it'll blow up in their face.”

“Can't you do that with all demons? Stop people summoning them at all?” Steve knew it was probably a stupid question but he had to ask.

“If only it were that easy,” Danny yawned. “You have to bind the demon, which you can't do until it's been summoned. And the really powerful ones can't be bound either. It'd be great if we could stop idiots bringing things here that they can't control. We figured whoever summoned that one had gotten eaten by it, but with no bodies left, we never found out who it was. Just one of those people who turn up missing.”

“Thanks, D,” Steve said, feeling himself settle now he knew a little more about the world Danny inhabited. “Get some sleep.”

“You too, babe,” Danny mumbled, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. “Big day tomorrow.”

Steve listened to the other man's breathing slow then even out, sleep taking him quickly once he finished speaking. He smiled at the idea that Danny could keep talking even though he was obviously so ready to sleep. Steve wanted to tease him about it, but he'd have to remember in the morning. Or maybe when they got Heather back.  
  
He wondered what they'd have to face for that to happen. But nothing he'd done in his life was giving him anything to speculate and plan from, so he let it go. Focusing on slowing his mind, as he did when doing yoga, he felt sleep finally creeping towards him. He sighed and welcomed it


	5. Four

Steve opened the passenger door of the car and unfolded himself out of the small vehicle. Brushing his palms down his thighs, he straightened out his pants, and shook out the kinks in his legs. He was struggling to equate the Danny who owned the high performance car that was the Camero, to the one who seemed to be filled with such glee at forcing his mom's Kia Soul through the dense New York traffic, when the man himself appeared next to him on the pavement.

“You okay?” Danny asked, his hand landing on Steve's back. “You can wait out here if you want.”

“Danny,” Steve said, looking down at his friend. “You sister is missing, stop worrying about me and focus on that.”

“It's a lot to take in,” Danny said with a pained expression. “You've not freaked out so far, but this is going to be the first time you actually see something rather than just get told about it. Marie can be pretty intense.”

“I'm not staying out here.”

“Okay, but just...”

“I get it, Danny,” Steve reassured him, squeezing his partner's shoulder. “I promise not to freak out, at least not until later.”

Danny huffed something that might have been a laugh, and managed a faint smile. He turned and opened the gate to the little front yard of the lilac painted house which Steve would have expected to find in a small town rather than Brooklyn. He'd been surprised that once they'd turned off the main road, the tightly packed, red-brick store fronts had given way to tree lined streets of well maintained weatherboard houses. He was never, ever going to admit to Danny that he was kind of charmed by the neighborhood. 

Steve shut the gate behind them as Danny approached the front door. The garden was small, crammed in the yard between the street and the house, but it was perfectly maintained. Steve had a sudden sense of grand houses with formal gardens, soaked in history, of the smell of jasmine on sultry night air, and a damp heat at odds with the dry scorch of a New York summer.

He was so surprised that he didn't realize that Danny had knocked until the door was opened by a tall black woman, with skin the color of mocha. She looked down at Danny with a uninterested expression. “Yeah?”

“I need to speak to Marie,” Danny said, his shoulders tensing enough to make Steve reach for a gun that wasn't there. “Is she available?”

“And who shall I say is calling?” she asked, oddly formal and suddenly looking a little more interested. Steve let out a breath as the other man relaxed minutely.

“Danny Williams,” his partner said, jutting his chin determinedly. “And this is Steve McGarrett.”

“Come inside,” the woman said, opening the door wider and beckoning them into the house. “I'll see if she's at home.”

Inside the house he followed Danny, who obviously knew where he was going, into a room he thought would probably be described as a parlor. It was an old fashioned room, thoroughly Gilded Age, and completely at odds with the modern kitchen he'd caught a glimpse of at the end of the corridor. Danny sat down on one of a pair of ornate, brocade covered, sofas that faced each other in front of the fireplace and gestured Steve to sit on the other.

Steve was surprised when the woman who'd answered the door followed them in and took a seat on the high backed armchair that faced the sofas. She said she'd see if Marie was in, he was sure, but here she was sitting down with them. Glancing at Danny, he received a quelling glare that stopped him asking what was going on.

He turned back to the woman, expecting her to say something to them, but she had her eyes closed. Her fingers were curled around the pendent that hung at her throat and her lips were moving as she recited some soundless set of words. Steve realized what was going on, just before he felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

The woman opened her eyes. “Daniel Williams, you been gone too long, sugar.” Her voice was a purr of pure New Orleans, lower and richer than the woman who'd spoken to them at the door.

“Hello Marie,” Danny said, his face softening into a smile. “I guess it's been longer than I thought, if you've changed partners without me knowing.”

“Ah, she's cute, yeah?” the woman smiled, and Steve felt like he might explode if someone didn't explain what was going on soon. “Bernice, she want to retire, get married. What can I do? I only borrow them.”

“Borrow them?” Steve blurted out, unable to contain himself.

“And who's your handsome friend, Daniel?” she asked, focusing on him. “He's so full of questions he might burst.”

“This is my partner, Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett,” Danny said, sitting up a little straighter. “And Steve, this is Madame Marie Laveau, late of New Orleans.”

“The Marie Laveau?” Steve asked, making Danny gape at him in surprise. “What? I've been to New Orleans.”

“Tell me what they told you, cher,” Marie said, flashing him a knowing smirk. “And I tell you how much was lies.”

Steve contemplated this woman who claimed to be a long dead Voodoo Queen, and wondered if he was really supposed to believe she was who she said she was. He couldn't read Danny, although he knew his partner wouldn't have wasted time coming here if he didn't think it'd help his sister. And he supposed that was all that really mattered.

“You died in 1880 something,” Steve said, starting with what he figured was the most important part. “And then your daughter took over doing Voudoun, but people often confuse the two of you. You had lots of followers from all walks of life, and all ethnic backgrounds. Historians think you could make accurate predictions and tell fortunes for the rich because the servants told you the gossip of the big houses.”

“I did leave my physical body in 1881,” she said, looking pleased with what he remembered, even though it wasn't exactly flattering. “And I've been borrowing other people's, with their consent of course, since that day. The first one was my daughter, and then her cousin.”

“You borrow them?” Steve asked again, not really sure he bought her story at all. It was too easy to fake, after all. An ear for accents and the knack of cold reading her clients, and it'd be pretty easy to fool most people.

“For sure,” she said, not looking at all like she was offended that he obviously didn't believe her. “And gossip is all very well, cher, but it don't tell me your daddy's real proud of you. It don't tell me that he wishes things had been different, that he'd made more time to get to know the man you grew into better before he died, especially now he knows about your momma. She's a cold woman.”

Steve felt like his world was collapsing. He knew, without doubt, that Danny hadn't told her about his messed up family, because his friend would never break a confidence like that. Analyzing everything she'd said, he tried to work out if she could have known from news stories or from being able to read his reactions as she spoke.

It seemed unlikely that she'd happen to remember his dad dying from news stories, although he guessed if she knew Danny, she might have heard about it. But his mom? That was unlikely. He had so many questions for his dad, so much he wanted to know and now he had the chance.

“He really didn't know about mom before?” Steve asked. It was the question he hadn't really allowed himself to think about because it hurt too much. If his dad had known Doris was still alive, and sent them away anyway, never mentioning it in all the things in the toolbox, then that would kill something inside him.

“Babe,” Danny said, looking like he wanted to hug his partner.

“Oh cher,” Marie said, sounding so caring it nearly took his breath away. “He loved you both so much, it broke his heart to send you away. He's not got many good things to say about your momma.”

Steve felt his throat closing up and his eyes filling with tears. Pressing a finger and thumb to his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose. God, but his family was fucked up. 

He hadn't realized Danny had moved until he felt his friend's hand on his shoulder. “Babe.”

He didn't turn into the heat of Danny's body, but he wanted to. Bowing his head, he tried to get himself under control. No one said anything for a few minutes, and he focused on the pressure of Danny's fingers squeezing his shoulder.

“Look,” Danny said, breaking the silence. “I know you want to reconnect with your dad, but I need to find my sister. Can we come back, once I find Heather, and you can spend as long as you like here?”

Steve felt like such a heel. He'd forgotten, just for a few minutes, that they were here for something way more important than hearing what his dad thought of his mom. “Sure, Danno. Sorry.”

“Hey, don't feel guilty,” Danny said, squeezing his shoulder. “You have a lot of unfinished business with your dad, and any other time I'd love nothing more than to help you settle it.”

“Okay.”

“You come to find Heather, no?” Marie asked as though Steve wasn't having some kind of breakdown.

“Yeah,” Danny said, his hand not leaving Steve shoulder. “I need something to track her down and I figured you'd be able to help.”

“You not gonna ask me if she's dead?” Marie said, and Steve snapped his head up to look at her. How could she ask that?

“I figured you're enough of a friend to have told me when I got here if she was,” Danny said calmly, and anyone who didn't know him as well as Steve, probably would have missed how much that calmness was costing him. “Was I wrong?”

“Oh no, shug,” Marie assured him, rising from her chair. “Just not everyone has as much faith as you. Come, I need to cook up some magic for you.”

Danny's hand slid off Steve's shoulder but stopped on his bicep, giving it a squeeze. “You want to stay here or come and watch Marie do her thing?”

“I'm okay, D,” Steve said, offering his friend a smile he wasn't sure really made it all the way to his eyes. “Anyway, I want to see my first bit of real magic.”

“Get your freak out done with?” Danny laughed, getting up and following Marie out of the room.

“Something like that.”

“Most of what you'll see is for show,” Danny said, turning off the corridor before they reached the kitchen, surprising Steve. “Her clients expect things to look like the way they've seen in the movies or TV, but real magic is pretty quiet. Professional courtesy means she doesn’t usually bother with any pretense for me. But with you here we might get a bit.”

The room they entered was even more of a shock than the Victorian parlor had been. It was dark, illuminated only by a few shafts of daylight that seemed to sneak into the room past the dusty curtains. Marie struck a long match, moving around the room lighting little mountains of dribbled wax that Steve assumed had once been candles.

The walls of the room were lined with shelves that bowed under the weight of pots and jars whose contents Steve was thankful he couldn’t make out in the dim light. In the middle of the room there was an old mahogany dining table that, despite the dust and the candle wax, Steve thought was probably worth a small fortune.

“You got something for me?” Marie asked Danny, as she started to gather things off the shelves.

“Some hair,” Danny said, pulling an evidence bag out of his pocket.

Steve's knowledge of voodoo was sketchy, and almost entirely based on a couple of bad movies and one visit to New Orleans, but he knew using something belonging to the person was common. The logical part of his brain was screaming that he shouldn't be trying to work out what was going on, because it was all obviously fake. But the rest of him couldn't help but be excited about what he was going to see.

“That'll do for her, shug,” Marie said, laying a well worn bible on the table and covering it with a square of white fabric. “But I need something from you, too.”

“I know,” Danny said, pulling a switchblade from the pocket of his slacks.

“Danny...” Steve started, but then found he didn't know where the sentence was going to go. He had no idea what was going to happen and it wasn't like he could stop Danny doing anything if it helped find his sister.

“It's okay,” Danny reassured him, flashing a tight smile. “Because Heather and I are tied by blood, if we put some of mine in the gris-gris, it'll be even better at finding her.”

“How much?” Steve asked, although he figured it couldn't be that much if all the ingredients were going to be wrapped in the square of cloth.

“No more than a drop or two, cher,” Marie said with a smile, putting a battered tea cup filled with either salt or sugar to the left of the cloth on the table. At the twelve o'clock position she placed the matching saucer with a little fat candle melted on it, and a bowl of water at three o'clock. Then she lit an incense stick from the sputtering flame of the candle and stuck it into a crack in the table, between her and the cloth.

“I thought you needed a sacrifice in voodoo,” Steve said, hoping no one was going to suddenly produce a black chicken.

“Another issue I have with organized religion,” Danny muttered.

“Harnessing power isn't easy, especially if you're not so naturally gifted as Daniel” Marie said, ignoring Danny as he grumbled to himself. “Ceremony and ritual make things stick in the mind, and you learn from the people around you.”

That kind of made sense to Steve. You could train your body, and your mind, to do all kinds of things if you practiced enough. “Like muscle memory?”

“He's a smart boy, eh shug?” she said to Danny, who rolled his eyes. “You should keep this one.”

Danny flushed and, before Steve could ask what Marie was talking about, flicked open his knife. “Can we get on with this? I know you said she's not dead, but whereever she is, I'm sure it's not pleasant and I need to find her.”

Steve felt a flash of guilt but Marie just rolled her eyes and said, “Men.” Turning back to the table, she took a deep breath, obviously focusing herself. She began murmuring under her breath, her eyes closed as she concentrated. Steve wanted to ask Danny what was happening, what it all meant, but he figured it was probably not the right time to pepper him with questions.

The words Marie was murmuring were still too quiet to hear, and Steve wasn’t sure he'd understand even if he could make them out. They were building though, becoming faster and more intense, and then Steve felt it.

Out in the field, he'd have snapped to full attention, sure something was about to happen. It was a pricking of his finely tuned instincts, it was the rise of the hairs on the back of his neck, the movement in the corner of his eye. In the back room of a house in Brooklyn, watching a long dead voodoo priestess work a spell, he wasn't sure what to do with the sensations.

The candles flickered all at once, and Steve couldn't help the shiver that ran up his spine. Marie fell silent and remained where she stood, head bowed, for a few moments. Steve glanced at Danny but couldn't get a read on his expression. Though still and quiet, which was unusual enough, he seemed relaxed too. Steve wondered what Danny was feeling, as a magic user, if even he could feel that the room was suddenly filled with a quiet power that made the air thrum. 

“Earth!” Marie said suddenly, making him twitch with surprise. “For lost things, and to tie you to this side of the crossroads.” She took a good pinch of dirt from a jar on the table and sprinkled it in the center of the cloth square.

“Palm oil, for a doorway,” she said as she picked up a bottle of oil and drizzled a few drops around the little mound of dirt. Picking up a polished stone, she put that on top of the earth. “Moonstone, a light in the dark places and to keep the bad things away.”

She opened the evidence bag Danny had given her and pulled the strands of blonde hair out, scrunching them into a tight ball. “Something of the lost soul,” she said, placing the hair on the little pile of the gris-gris. “And something of the seeker.”

Danny stepped forward and without a word stuck his knife into the tip of his right index finger. Steve wasn't really surprised to see his partner didn't even flinch, as he squeezed a few drops of blood onto the little mound of earth and hair.

“Blood, freely given,” Marie said, as though she was pointing it out to someone who might not have been paying full attention, and Steve suddenly felt a surge of power in the room that made his skin instantly pucker into goose-flesh. “Open the doors and lead this brother to his sister.”

There was the sensation of a bright flash, even though the room stayed dim, a rushing explosion of sound that never happened, and all the candles went out as though blown by a breeze he couldn't feel. “Jesus.”

Marie laughed. “No, cher, just me and your Danny doing our thing.”

“I think that was mostly you,” Danny said, as Marie re-lit the candles and began to gather up the cloth of the gris-gris.

“If you weren't such an unbeliever,” Marie said, tying the top of the little bundle with a piece of twine and then making a large loop that was clearly meant to enable it to be worn around the neck. “I'd tell you it was Papa Legba and Ayezan giving you their blessings.”

“Believing in magic is about as much as I can manage,” Danny said, taking the gris-gris and slipping it over his head. “Trying to give it names and personalities is just too much for an ordinary guy like me.”

“Sugar, when I was learning my skills, your family been practicing magic for a thousand years,” she said, dismissing Danny's arguments with a wave of her hand. “Don't try to tell me you're some dumb schmuck who's into all this by accident.”

“A thousand years?” Steve asked, because...well, a thousand years!

“Not now Steve,” Danny snapped and then sighed. He put his hand on Steve's chest. “I promise when all this is over, we can sit and talk for ever about anything you want. Just right now, I need to get on with finding Heather. Okay?”

“Okay,” Steve agreed reluctantly. He hated going into a situation where he knew he didn't have all the facts. And running off to find Heather, mostly in the dark about what was going on, was dangerous. He hated to admit it, but the best he could do was to try not to be too much of a liability.

On any other day, Danny would have found the silence in the car oppressive, and have had to fill it with digs at Steve about something. Now though, as he concentrated on where the gris-gris was leading him, it was what he needed. Steve seemed to sense it too, although maybe he was just quietly freaking out over what he'd seen.

Not that there had been much to see at Marie's. She'd left out all the ritual that Danny knew was part of what people paid to see.  In about twenty minutes she’d put together a work that he'd have had to spend hours preparing for. If he could have done it at all. The power she'd summoned and pushed into the little cloth bag was immense.

He could feel it, prickling at the edge of his mind. As soon as he put the gris-gris around his neck, and now as they drove through the Upper West Side, he could almost see it stretching out like a trail of mystical breadcrumbs leading him towards Heather.

Glancing at Steve, he had expected to find him taking in his surrounding and planning for choke points or escape routes or some such. But his partner was staring off into the distance, his fingers wrapped around the little charm Marie had given him.

“Agwe,” she'd said, pressing a little metal fish on a leather cord into his hand. “Shell of the Sea, he protects you and you're going to need him.”

Neither Danny nor Steve could ask any more as Marie had slipped away then, leaving only the girl who'd answered the door to them. Danny had never been sure how much Marie's hosts were aware of, but the girl, Cindy, seemed a lot more friendly afterward. She'd offered them coffee, agreeing it was to go, when Danny made it clear he needed to leave. Cindy had had them follow her through a garden gate out back, through a yard and into the back of a trendy coffee shop. She'd slipped behind the counter and made him a latte and Steve some vile thing with green tea.

Around the corner, a block ahead, the thread of power disappeared , and Danny changed lanes to make the turn. Steve seemed to snap out of whatever trance he'd been in and took note of where they were. “Where do you think it's taking us?”

“Somewhere close,” Danny said, turning the car around the corner. The gris-gris tugged him towards an apartment block down the road, and he swung wildly into a parking space that he knew shouldn't be there at this time of day. The driver behind him leaned on his horn but Danny didn't care, the gods he didn't believe in were smiling on him.

Steve was out of the car and twitching with barely contained energy on the sidewalk before he'd even turned off the engine. Danny felt a rush of affection for the big goof. The crazy man was not only willing, but eager to follow him into whatever insane situation waited for them inside the apartment block, regardless of his own safety.

“When we get inside,” Danny said, hoping the apartment block didn't have a doorman. “I need you to do exactly what I tell you for once. Can you manage that?”

“Of course I can,” Steve said, sounding affronted by the idea that he regularly completely ignored every word Danny said to him.

“Seriously, Steve,” Danny said, touching his partner's arm, both to nudge him towards the door of the building and also to make him really listen. “I know you think your SEAL training has equipped you for every situation, and that the rest of us mortals just went to clown school, but this is definitely my home turf.”

“Clown school?” Steve said, approaching the apartment block with aneurism face in full effect. “There's no doorman. I can probably pop the lock.”

“For fuck's sake, Steve,” Danny said, shaking his head and elbowing him out of the way. “Home turf, remember.”

Mashing his hand onto the call buttons of as many apartments as possible, he kept the pressure on until the speaker in the door squawked into life. “Mamel inny on non,” he shouted, his mouth as distortingly close to the microphone as possible. The speaker whined with feedback and the outraged shouts of a couple of residents, but thankfully some idiot buzzed the door open.

“Mamel inny on non?” Steve asked, looking like he couldn't decide if he was impressed or amused.

“It's the magic word,” Danny said smugly, swinging the door open and following the gris-gris's trail up the stairs. “People's brain's make it into words that mean something to them, and every building has at least one person stupid enough to buzz just about anyone in.”

“Right,” Steve said sceptically, bounding up the stairs behind him. “You think Heather's in one of the apartments?”

Danny realized guiltily he'd not taken the time to even teach the basics of what he knew to Steve. “She's not on Earth any more.”

“What?” Steve caught Danny's arm and nearly toppled him down the stairs.

“She's fallen off our plane of existence, our dimension,” Danny said, wishing he'd spent more time last night talking about the case rather than the theory of magic. “I should have taken the time to explain that to you when Mack told us, I'm sorry.”

“How do you know?” Steve demanded, obviously playing back all the conversations they'd had on the way from the airport.

“Nana can't say where she is,” Danny explained, tugging his arm free from Steve's loosening grip and carrying on up the stairs to the third floor. “If she was still here, even dead, Nana could have found her. And she would have, she likes Heather.”

“She's not your actual grandmother, is she?” Steve said, sounding like he really hoped it was true. “Because that's really screwed up if she is.”

“She's everyone's grandmother,” Danny said, knowing he was being vague enough to really piss Steve off. “I'm hoping we won't have to go and see her because she's really not someone you want to deal with unless you absolutely have to. I'll explain later, I promise.”

“This list for later is getting really big,” Steve muttered, as he shouldered Danny none too gently into the wall, and took the lead through the door from the stairwell.

“Seriously, Steve?” Danny complained, rubbing his shoulder. “Fifth door on the right. That's your limit, is it? All the crap you've seen and heard, and that's it? Just not getting to know who someone you haven't met, and hopefully won't, is? Don't, for the love of god, break the door, this is the Upper West Side, someone will call the cops.”

“I was going to pick the lock,” Steve said, his overly innocent expression giving the lie to his words. “If no one's in.”

Danny rolled his eyes, and knocked on the door. They waited, both leaning close to the door in case they could hear movement in the apartment. Nothing happened. He could hear the hum of the building's air-conditioning, the faint murmur of a TV from somewhere down the hall, but nothing from behind the door. Steve raised his eyebrows, and Danny nodded. A set of lock picks materialized from one of Steve's many pockets, and the door opened in the time most people would probably spend finding their keys.

With a shared look, born of too many simple cases going south, and a quick glance to check the corridor, they drew the guns slipped casually in the back of their waistbands.  Pushing the door open and stepping inside they cleared the rooms one by one, not commenting on what they saw until they were sure they were alone.

The living room looked like something from a magazine spread. White sofas, a rug that probably cost as much as his mom's car, and some boring but no doubt expensive art on the walls. The kitchen was clearly unused, the refrigerator empty except for a couple of bottles of water.

Once past the acceptable facade though, the apartment got weirder. The bathroom and the smaller of the two bedrooms were stacked with books and papers, notes scrawled everywhere, even on the walls. There was a blanket on a bare mattress on the floor that suggested someone was sleeping there, but amongst the mess it was hard to tell.

In what was clearly supposed to be the master bedroom, there was no furniture, just a bare concrete floor and the same mad scribbling on the walls. Danny supposed with time, and probably some help, he could work out what the notes were, but right now he was being drawn to the middle of the room.

“Here,” he said to Steve, reaching out with the senses he tried not to use too much. “The barriers between the worlds are thin. He's been casting in here.”

“Really?” Steve asked, peering around the room as though he'd be able to see some evidence of it.

“Usually we call them works,” Danny said,. “Major works and minor works.”

“And he's been doing major works?”

“Yeah, big stuff,” Danny confirmed, pushing the gun back into the waistband of his jeans and digging through his pockets for his chalk. He bent and drew a wide circle on the floor, years of practice making him fast and accurate.

“And you're going to open up the barriers?” Steve asked, sounding like he couldn't quite believe he was saying the words.

“Basically yes,” Danny agreed, wishing he didn't have to. “This is a major work, something I'd normally have to really prepare for, but with the power the gris-gris is giving me, and the fact there's a weak spot, I can do it almost without trying.”

“And Heather's on the other side?”

“I hope so, babe,” Danny said with a sigh. “I really hope so.”

“So we just go through and find her?”

“No, I go through and find her,” Danny said, knowing what Steve's reaction would be.

“Danny...” Steve grabbed his arm.

“No Steve,” he said firmly. “You are not going through, no matter what you say.”

“You can't go through on your own,” Steve said, something that looked a lot like panic clouding his expression. “I can't...I couldn't let you...what if you need help?”

“The biggest help you can be is to stay here,” Danny said, gripping Steve's bicep to stop him when he tried to say more. “Seriously, I need you here to make sure no one shuts the portal behind me and, babe, you'll be like a beacon guiding us back.”

Danny could tell Steve thought it was all a ploy to keep him there, and maybe the part about being a beacon actually was, because Danny had no clue what was going to happen. He was terrified of whatever was on the other side, and had no idea if he would be able to find his way back.  But other than Grace, he liked to think that Steve was probably the only person he could always find. “Seriously, if whoever he is comes back and finds an open portal in his bedroom, he's going to slam that door closed so fast. And we won't be much use to anyone if we're stuck on the other side.”

“We could call your mom,” Steve suggested, obviously playing scenarios in his head, and wishing Chin and Kono were there. “Or Mack.”

“We don't have time,” Danny said, as calmly as he could. There was no way he could do the ritual if he was worrying that Steve was going to do something stupid. “Heather's been in there for three days, Steve. Three days of god knows what. I can't leave her there while we wait for back up.”

“Okay,” Steve agreed reluctantly, obviously not happy but unable to argue against his own logic. “But I want it on record that I think this is a terrible idea.”

“Noted,” Danny said with a grin, slipping his gun out of his waistband and handing it to Steve. ”Now, keep this, use it if you need to, it's not going to help with whatever's out there on the other side, and I don't want to lose it. Stop with that face, physical weapons aren't going to help on the other side.”

“You can't know that,” Steve protested, trying to give the gun back to Danny. “Can you?”

“I'm pretty sure,” Danny insisted, pushing the gun back. He wasn't about to tell Steve about the first time he faced a demon on his own and nearly died because he'd thought his gun and newly minted cop's shield would be better than his other skills.

“Danny.”

“I know, babe,” Danny said, gripping Steve's wrist. “I wish I could take you with me, and from now on we're going to start training you so you know as much as I do, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Right,” Danny said, moving away and towards the circle he'd drawn on the floor. “I'm going to step in the circle, close it behind me and then open the portal. You are not to cross into the circle no matter what, you hear?”

“No stepping in the circle,” Steve parroted, and Danny eyed him critically until he broke. “It's okay, I get this bit. Magic circle that keeps things outside out, and inside in.”

“One of these days you're going to have to explain how you know so much abstract shit,” Danny said by way of agreement. “And don't tell me it's the internet.”

Steve gave him a sour look. “I worked that out myself.”

“Huh,” Danny said, grudgingly impressed. He supposed it was pretty obvious that the circle was meant to contain things but still, it was a pretty big leap of faith for someone who didn't know magic existed two days ago.

Steve didn't say more. He was obviously struggling to deal with all the frustration he was feeling at not being allowed to follow Danny, and was almost vibrating with nerves. Danny couldn't blame him, he'd be feeling the same thing if the roles were reversed.

“Look,” Danny said, stepping towards Steve and smoothing his hand down his friend's arm. “I will do everything in my power to come back here. I won't leave you hanging, I wouldn't do that to you.”

Steve relaxed minutely, his face softening a little. “I know. I just...it...God, Danny. I don't like not being able to help. I should be your back up. You shouldn't have to do this on your own.”

“I'm not on my own, babe,” Danny said, squeezing Steve's arm. “You're here, and you're helping. I wish I could take you through there with me, but I can't. And I need to know someone I trust has my back here. I don't want the door being slammed shut behind me.”

“Okay,” Steve said, managing a tight smile. “Just, be careful.”

“I will,” Danny said, moving away. He stepped into the chalk circle and stood still. Closing his eyes, he focused himself on what he was about to do. He felt his heart beating, and concentrated on that for a few moments, centering himself, feeling power gathering in his chest. He pulled his senses in, shaping the power into something useable, molding it to his will, before he pushed it out into the chalk circle.

He opened his eyes again, looking around the room with more than just his eyes. He could see the circle, infused with power, shimmering in his mind. He could also see the weak spot in the center and turned his attention to that.  Pushing out power, he forced it into a spike to drive through the the little fissures he could see winking in and out of existence. There was a screaming grinding sound somewhere beyond normal hearing, and he hairs on Danny's neck stood on end. The thrust of power pushed into the weak spot and tore a hole between the worlds.

“Danny...” Steve was right up at the edge of the circle, his face filled with worry.

“It's okay,” Danny reassured him, giving him a big smile. He felt exhilarated. He'd just opened a portal with nothing more than the power of his mind. No spells, no casting, and no days of heavy preparation, just his mind. Yeah, okay, so the barriers were paper thin, but he'd still done without so much as a formal spell. The gris-gris was giving him a boost, he was sure of that, but there was something else lending him a magical hand, something he wasn't sure he should trust, but that felt so right.

The sickly yellow light that poured out though the portal seemed to reach like searching fingers around the room, pressing and testing the surfaces as though trying to find a way out. Danny could feel a change in the air as the wind he could hear howling in the demon dimension followed the light though the tear in the worlds. It carried with it a smell of sulfur and dead things, of burning and pain.

Taking a big breath he reined his feelings in. He was about to step through the portal and no matter how easy he'd found opening the door, what was on the other side might still be more than he could handle. He'd told Steve he wouldn't leave him, and he didn't intend to,  but knowing there might be no choice was like a knife in his heart.

Danny took a deep breath and pushed the thought aside. Steve, the big goof was pacing like he was the one caged in a circle of power, and he nearly reached out to stop him. He caught himself, before his arm even moved, but the shock of how easily his feelings nearly over rode all his training was like a cold shower down his back. It was so easy, so automatic now, reaching out to touch his partner. He needed to focus on the task ahead of him, and worrying about how much his feelings for Steve seemed to have grown without him really noticing.

“Hold the door open and keep a light on,” Danny said, hoping his light tone could pull a smile from Steve but it fell flat.

“Be careful,” Steve managed, kicked puppy eyes and aneurism face battling for dominance. “Please.”

“I will,” Danny said, wishing he didn't have to do what he did. “Stay out of the circle, no matter what. I'll be back with Heather as soon as I can.”

Turning away from Steve and looking into the gap between the worlds was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, but he squared his shoulders and stepped forward.


	6. Five

Steve looked at his watch. Just twenty minutes since he'd watched Danny step off this plane of existence. He turned and paced down the corridor of the apartment, peering through the spy-hole in the door to check the hall outside. Danny had said to make sure whoever owned the place didn't come back and close the portal, and checking the apartment was a whole lot easier than standing, staring at the gap in reality.

He'd done that for a few minutes, hoping Heather was right on the other side and Danny would immediately step right back through. When he didn't, Steve watched it some more, trying to get a read on what it was he was actually seeing.

He could feel the power inside of the circle as a gentle hum against his mind when he stepped too close, and there was a ragged gash that hung in the air . An infectious yellowy light seemed to ooze out of the tear, spilling on the cement floor and spreading out towards the edges of the circle. Steve wondered if it was his imagination, when the light seemed to hesitate as it hit Danny's power, but it didn't hold it long.

When Danny stepped into the demon dimension, Steve had seen his hair ruffle in a breeze he couldn't feel in the room. He guessed that phantom wind was what brought the smell that followed the light out of the circle. The closest he could come to classifying it in his head was a dead body in a volcano. He'd been to the Volcanoes National Park, walked through K ī lauea's sulfurous fumes, and he'd smelled enough death to know the separate smells, he just kind of wished he'd never been exposed to what he thought they would smell like combined.

Poking his head into the smaller bedroom, he glared at the papers that were stacked everywhere. He needed to go through them but couldn't when he was in an unsecured scene with his partner in danger. Not for the first time he wished the other half of the team was there with him and Danny.  Wondering what the cousins would make of the things he'd seen and heard in the past couple of days, he pulled out his phone and dialed Chin's number. He wasn't going to tell him anything about the weird stuff, at least not yet, but he could get him and Kono looking into who owned the apartment.

“Hozit, Steve?” Chin said, as his answered.

“Danny and I are onto something,” Steve said, knowing that wasn’t really what Chin wanted to hear but he didn't really know how to begin to explain what he was really feeling. “I need you to check out a lead for us.”

“Sure,” Chin agreed, letting Steve's non-answer slide. “What do you need?”

“I need to know who owns or rents an apartment.”

“Give me the address, and I'll get on it as soon as I get to the office.” Steve cursed himself for forgetting the time difference, but knew that Chin and Kono would expect him to call whenever he or Danny needed anything, whatever the time.

“I'm not sure,” Steve had to admit, kicking himself for not paying enough attention on the drive over. “Can you ping my phone? I'm in apartment 307 if you can.”

“Where are you?” Chin asked, rightly suspicious that Steve didn’t know where he was.

“Upper West Side,” Steve told him, wishing he had been paying more attention. “Danny was driving. And I had some things to think about.”

“You okay, Steve?”

“Yeah, brah,” Steve said with a sigh. “There's just a lot of stuff going on.”

“How's Danny?”

“Okay, in the circumstances,” Steve said, hedging his answer slightly. No way was he going to tell Chin he'd let Danny go off on his own, and no way was he going to try to explain what was happening over the phone.

Chin was silent for a moment, obviously trying to work out if he could push for more answers. Steve hoped he wouldn't,  not wanting to have to lie, but being prepared to if necessary.  This was Danny's secret, and he'd kept it for all the time he'd known them, he wasn't going to break that confidence.

“I'll get on this,” Chin said, and Steve let out a breath. “Give Danny our love and take care of him.”

“Sure,” Steve said, thumbing his phone off before he could say anything stupid.

Steve had just turned back towards the kitchen of the apartment when he heard a creaking noise from the main bedroom behind him. It sounded like old floorboards straining under the weight of something huge. Steve had his gun out, easing carefully towards the room before he'd even processed the sound. There was no way anyone had gotten past him into the room, so that meant someone, or something, had come out of the portal.

He edged round the door, leading with his gun, knowing that he was going to find something in the circle.  If it had been Danny, he would have called to him, broken the circle and come out to meet him. So logic told him there was going to be something there that shouldn't be.  Knowing it, and seeing it, were very different things though.

It was big, taller than he was, and seemed to barely fit its bulk into the space inside the circle. The thing turned towards him, creaking as it moved its spiny head and twisted its limbs to avoid touching the boundary of power Danny had created. Steve figured it was looking at him, although he wasn't sure what it could see, as its eye sockets were empty. Its lip-less mouth twisted into something that was probably a smile but it made Steve want to run screaming from the room.

Part of Steve's mind was trying to tell him that what he saw was a bland looking man in a suit. And when he blinked he saw after images of the man against the black body of the creature. He guessed that the image was some kind of disguise the thing, the demon, projected to hide its true form. He was just glad the power Danny had poured into the magic circle was containing the thing and interfering with its power.

“You can see me as I am?” the thing asked him, its head cocked slightly to one side as it considered him. “How interesting.”

The words were like finger nails on a blackboard, like glass shattering right inside his head.  The thing's mouth was still fixed in a dreadful grin, and Steve was fairly sure its voice was bypassing his ears altogether. His spine felt like jelly and he wanted nothing more than to walk away and not have to look at the thing any more, but he took a breath and faced his fear. “Go back through the portal.”

The demon laughed and the sound made Steve spine want to crawl in his skull and hide.  Squaring his shoulders, he stepped closer to the circle, his gun up. He was totally going to punch Danny in his stupid face when he got back for not giving him the right intel to deal with the situation. He hated being under-prepared, and there was no excuse for it other than his partner's reluctance to talk about this side of his life. That was not happening from now on.

“Go back through the portal,” Steve repeated, feeling a little more in control now he had a plan, even if it was just a plan to shout at Danny.

“And will you shoot me if I don't?” the demon asked, a little too unconcerned about the prospect for Steve's liking. 

Steve didn't answer. He might not be exactly trained to deal with demons, but he figured they couldn't be all that different from any enemy he'd faced. He just had to think about what he said, make sure he gave away less information than he got in return, but with the added pressure that this opponent might actually eat him if he failed.

Would a bullet break the magic circle? Maybe. Danny also said that guns wouldn't do anything to help him against demons, but that was in their dimension. Would they work here? He had no idea. He lowered his gun, not willing to get rid of it entirely but ready to trust the magic circle for now.

The thing moved again with a creaking of limbs and a waft of the smell of rotting corpses overlaid with jasmine which made Steve want to vomit. He was suddenly back in Iraq, hiding in a ditch under the decaying bodies of two dead Iraqis, while insurgents searched for him. He'd laid there unmoving for thirty six hours, with the pungent smell of jasmine and the buzzing of flies the only distraction from wondering how many of his team were dead.

“That's it,” the demon said, its smug voice cutting through the hallucination. “That's what I needed.”

Steve took a hold of himself, pushing the memories away. He thought about all the things he'd done since then, about how his SEAL team were all okay, how his new team were family, about how he needed to stay strong to get Danny back. 

“It won't work,” Steve said, mentally pushing back against the demon. He wasn't sure that the creeping sensation he could feel prickling at the edges of his mind was really the creature, but the smell of jasmine and the buzzing of flies diminished when he fought it.

“You are stronger than you look, human,” the demon said, looking a little less smug, Steve thought, although he wasn't sure how he could tell. “This will be entertaining. I shall enjoy breaking you.”

“I've withstood worse than you,” Steve said, determinedly not thinking about all the terrible things he'd seen or done in his life.

The creature laughed again, and Steve felt a push in his mind. Clawed fingers scratched at his consciousness, prying the edges loose and looking for a way in. Steve locked his knees against the urge to collapse to the floor, and pulled on all his training to harden his mind. He would do this, he could do this, he had to do this for Danny.

Danny still hadn't found Heather, and it had been fifty eight hours since he stepped through the portal. At  least that's what his watch had told him, but he suspected that time was passing more quickly for him than it was back in the real world. He hoped so, because he didn't want to think about Steve waiting for him all that time.

He didn't feel tired or hungry, which he thought supported his idea that it hadn't really been over two days since he arrived in the demon dimension. Even if there had been anything that looked remotely edible, he wouldn't have eaten it. He wasn't sure how it worked, but he figured eating there probably gave the things he could feel at the edge of his mind power over you. Or you wouldn't be able to leave. A bit like visiting Nana.

Following where the gris-gris was leading him, he'd walked for miles through a blasted landscape of rocks and dead, twisted trees.  He'd not seen another living thing, demon or human, in the whole time, and he was starting to feel like he was going crazy.  Sure he'd seen the same rocks and trees several times, he was starting to wonder if the gris-gris wasn't leading him on a wild goose chase.

What if Heather wasn't really here? How long could he spend wandering without finding her? He couldn't abandon Heather, he knew that, but he had Grace to think of. And Steve. He really hoped his partner had thought to call his mom, or Mack, to come and help him watch the portal. The idea of the stoic goof waiting for him, on his own, for god knows how long made Danny feel like turning around right now.

But he didn't. Instead he plodded on through the rocks, avoiding the weirdly colored pools that grew to be an increasing hazard. The place reminded him of Mordor. It wasn't so much the movie he imagined, rather it was Rachel's voice reading to him in the early days of their marriage that he heard in his mind. She was appalled over the gaps in his reading, but Lord of the Rings was the one that she'd decided to read to him. She was a Tolkien nut, on the sly, and he'd loved that he was one of the only people in the whole world who knew that.

They'd been so in love, back then, and Danny could clearly remember the feeling that he wanted to share everything with her. And yet he'd never involved her in this part of his life, like he had with Steve. Yes, Steve had kind of bulled his way into it, but Danny could have insisted he stay in Hawai'i, and he would have done, in the end. His partner had the training to take care of himself, unlike Rachel. But neither did Heather and his mom and they were more a part of the odder side of life than even he was. Danny did wonder what that said about his feelings for his partner, but he pushed it aside, happy to live in denial for a while longer, at least until he found Heather.

He clambered up a scree slope of sharp, blood red pumice like rocks, that scraped his hands and crunched under his sneakers. Not sure what instinct told him to duck down as he reached the top, but he was glad he did, because on the other side of the ridge, in a little valley filled with a jumble of black rocks, was Heather. She was sitting, legs crossed, safe inside a circle she'd scraped in the earth, and looked okay as far as he could tell. It was the things surrounding the circle that really worried Danny.

There was four of them, about the size of mastiff dogs, and they looked like something normally carved in stone, on the outside of churches; snarling teeth filled mouths in ugly faces, little horns and all. Their leathery wings flapped angrily as they threw themselves at the circle, crashing into the shield Heather had made around herself. Each time one of them hit it, there was a flicker of power in the air and a whine of energy discharging.

They were all focused on Heather, which was good in one respect, as it allowed Danny some time to think about what he was going to do to get her out. On the other hand he wasn't sure how long she'd been withstanding the creatures and he had no idea how long she could last.

He slid back down the scree slope and crouched at the bottom, frantically trying to come up with a plan. There weren't many options, and he felt suddenly stupid and unprepared. He'd hurried through the portal without much thought of what he was going to find, other than Heather. And now his only real option was to do some serious magic, and that took time.

With a sigh he looked around for a flat piece of ground to make a circle. At home he wouldn't have bothered with a circle for what he was going to do. But here, he couldn't shape a spell and protect himself from whatever might come looking for him as soon as they smelled the magic.

Scraping a fairly round circle in the orangy-green sand with the toe of his shoe, he sat down in the center and, with a little shove of power, closed it behind himself. Tension he hadn't realized he'd been carrying left him when the magic worked just as it did back in the real world. He'd hoped it would work when he stepped through the portal, and had been pretty sure it did when he'd seen Heather's protective circle. But until he felt the snap of his circle closing he'd not been one hundred percent sure.

Now, he just had to create something he could use to defeat the gargoyle things, and hope the gris-gris and his own sense of direction would get them back to the portal.

“I love you son,” his dad said, and Steve wanted to weep. He was panicking, despite all his training, not sure how he was going to get his dad out of the situation. Five thousand miles felt like a million and there was no way he could save his dad. He knew it really, even before Anton got himself killed.

The shot echoed round his head and his knees went from under him. Except he was already on the floor, and this wasn't real, he knew that much, at least some small part of him did. He pushed the memories away, focusing on the texture of the concrete floor under his hands. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Rough feel of the floor, smell of his own sweat, and the dry, chalky smell of the apartment underneath the fetid smell of the thing he shared the room with.

“Your resistance is remarkable,” a creaking, scraping voice said directly into his head.

Steve wanted to kill the demon so badly. He didn't really know what it was trying to achieve, what it was he was resisting, other than being forced to relive some of his worst experiences. He stood up, staggering a little as he regained his feet.

“How long can you resist?” the demon asked, and Steve thought it was genuinely interested in an answer rather than just taunting him.

“As long as it takes,” Steve replied, squaring his shoulders. 

“And what will you do when your Danny comes back?” the thing asked, stepping towards him and creating a shower of sparks as it touched the circle Danny had cast. “I will gut him when he steps through. What then, human? Will you break the circle, to help him?”

Steve didn't answer. He couldn't, because he didn't know what he'd do himself. The thought of standing by and watching the demon kill Danny, and Heather, was even more horrifying than all the terrible things the creature had made him imagine already. But he also knew that if he broke the circle he'd be unleashing something on the world that Danny had done his best to contain. And that would be a betrayal of everything he and Danny stood for.

“Your feelings are your weakness,” the creature said, fixing Steve with its terrible eyeless stare. “I will feast on them before I tear your flesh from your bones.”

“And I'll make sure you choke,” Steve said, not willing to give an inch even though he could feel the demon pushing into his mind again.

The thing laughed, its pointed obsidian teeth flashing in the afternoon sun. “You are amusing, human. Perhaps I should keep you at my side when I finally ravage this world.”

Steve wanted to reply, wanted to tell the thing he was going to do everything he could to stop it, or die trying, but his mind spun away and he was in Afghanistan, choking on the dust kicked up by a medivac chopper.

Danny opened his eyes and looked down at the coins in his hand. They didn't look any different, but then he didn't expect them too. He jingled them together, gathering his thoughts, before shoving all but one of them in his pants pocket. He stood up, took in a deep breath, held it, and then blew it out. Right, time to do this thing.

Outside of the circle he'd drawn in the sand, two of the gargoyle things paced, waiting for him to let go of the power that held them at bay. He was holding two circles at the moment, not that he could really feel any strain from that, but he'd also just spent four hours casting some pretty heavy duty magic, and he was really beginning to feel it. He wondered if the creatures could tell.

He also wondered how Heather was holding up. It was possible to maintain a circle while you slept, but not if you were unconscious. She had to be getting dangerously dehydrated by now, so if they were going to escape, they needed to do it now, before either of them became too exhausted to make it back to the portal.

He locked eyes with the closest gargoyle, made sure it was watching him, and then scuffed the circle with the toe of his shoe. The power dissipated and the creature charged at him, wings flapping, teeth bared. Danny waited until it was about ten feet away before throwning the dime he'd been rolling through his fingers.

The coin hit the demon square in the face and exploded with a blast of power that made Danny's heart race with excitement. It thudded outwards, washing over him with the taste of ozone and the feel of electricity prickling his skin. The gargoyle's head smashed back against its body, its face a ruined mess, and its neck snapped. He had no idea if it was actually dead, but it dropped to the ground and didn't move, so he was taking it as a win.

The other demon that had been waiting its chance, roared and charged. He hurled another coin but the thing dodged to the side and the missile missed its head and exploded against its back legs. The gargoyle was flung to the side, squealing in pain, and Danny felt a momentary pang of empathy.

The sympathy didn't last long as the creature lurched up towards him, snapping its jagged teeth, and he jumped back. He flung a charged quarter at it and its head exploded in a spatter of blood and bone. Danny smiled in grim satisfaction, stepping over the corpse and starting towards Heather.

He'd only taken a couple of steps before the gargoyles that had been menacing his sister came roaring over the top of the scree slope. Danny didn't know if it was the noise or the magic that attracted them, and he didn't have time to care. Another quarter, thrown with the wicked spin, took the wings off of the first, and knocked the second one on its ass. Danny silently thanked his high school baseball coach as he smashed a nickel into the side of the writhing wingless gargoyle, opening it's chest and killing it where it lay.

The surviving demon shook itself and leapt at him, teeth and claws flashing in the sickly light. Danny spun away from it, feeling a claw rake a line of fire down his arm as he turned. He crashed to the ground, rolled, and kicked out as the gargoyle sprang again. His foot connected with its stomach and he flipped it over his head, using its own momentum to push it away. He twisted and threw a dime, it flashed through the air and detonated right in the demon's face. With a squealing roar the thing lurched away, thrashing on the ground until it finally gasped a ragged breath and died.

He didn't hang around to find out if the demons were all really dead. Scrambling to his feet quickly, he clambered up the scree slope, slip-sliding on the lose rocks, and headed for Heather. He crested the rise, hoping there wasn’t any more of the gargoyle demons, and found his sister watching him with an exhausted smile from inside her circle.

“Danny,” she croaked, when he got closer to her.

“Hey, sis,” he said, his own grin impossible to contain, even though his eyes were filling with tears. “Watchya doing?”

“Oh you know,” she said, nowhere near as cheerful as her words suggested. Uncrossing her legs, she scuffed her shoe through the circle to break its power.

“Jeez, Heather,” he breathed, grabbing her arms and pulling her up into a fierce hug. “You gave us a scare.”

“Me too,” she croaked, wobbling as she wrapped her arms around him. “I didn’t know if you'd find me.”

“Always. Got a gris-gris from Marie,” Danny said into her hair. “And Steve's holding the door open.”

“Steve?”

“Long story,” Danny said, pulling away from his sister, even though he wanted to keep her wrapped in his arms for ever. “And I'm surprised he's not already come through looking for us.”

“How long have I been gone?” Heather asked, looking like she almost didn't want to hear the answer.

“Three days, when I left,” Danny said, slinging an arm around his sister's waist and steering them back in the direction he'd come. “But that was nearly three days ago according to my watch.”

“Time's moving faster here,” Heather said, grabbing his arm as she stumbled on the lose rock. “I've been in that circle for three months.”

“Jesus,” Danny breathed, his chest tightening at the thought of what she'd been through.

“I guessed it was, because still being alive after three months with no water didn't make any sense.”

Cursing himself for not bringing any water with him, Danny didn't reply because what could he say? Some cop he was, mounting a rescue without thinking it through.  Completely under-prepared, he'd let himself get swept along by his emotions, forgetting all the things he should have thought about before stepping through the portal.

But Heather didn't seem to mind, and that made him feel even more guilty. She was grateful he'd come, when in reality it was only luck that he hadn't ended up trapped in a circle, just like she had. Yes, he was certainly better at offensive magic than she was, always had been, but he still felt like an idiot.

The best he could do now was push on, get them back to the real world as soon as possible, and get her some medical care. She might be walking along with him fine now, but he had a feeling that once they stepped through the portal time would catch up with them, and her body was going to feel the effects of three days without water.

At least Danny hoped it was just three days. The idea of three months of dehydration suddenly catching up with her didn't bear thinking about. At least Steve would be there to help. Danny knew he should probably worry how much better the idea of his partner being there made him feel. Instead he put the thought away in the increasingly full box he'd labeled 'things I don't want to think about Steve' and concentrated on getting back.

When he could see them, he was following his own tracks, but he could also feel a tug in his chest, pulling him along when there was no other guide. It wasn't the ephemeral, faint trail the gris-gris had shown him, guiding his steps like a glow in the corner of his eye. No, this was visceral, anchored somewhere in his chest, physically guiding his body, he hoped, back to an apartment in the Upper West Side. And to Steve.

Steve was thrown back by the explosion, pain lancing through his gut, but he didn't care. The pain was right, good even, because he'd failed. Danny was dead, and he'd failed. He couldn't open his eyes, and his ears rung sharp and painful, and Steve knew he'd be deaf when it stopped. Certain he was bleeding out, he struggled to roll over and get to Danny. He needed to get to Danny. 

Farooq had won in the end, and Steve wanted to kill him all over again. He wanted to wind back time and save Danny. God, it hurt. He just wanted to crawl to Danny, lie next to him, and just let it all bleed away. But he had to live, he had to look after Grace. It would kill him a little every day, but he would be there for the kid, telling her how much her Danno loved her, how much he'd wanted to live for her. That he'd tell Grace he'd swap with her dad in a heartbeat wasn't even something he had to think about, if they could find some magic to make it happen.

He could feel tears running down his face and wondered if there was a spell for raising the dead. Because if there was, he'd use it, consequences be damned. A tiny part of his mind was screaming this wasn't right, Danny wasn't dead, but he'd seen it. Felt it.

He had to move, call for help. Why wasn't anyone coming? Was there another bomb? That made sense. He lay on the dusty road and hoped his team would come get him before he died. Was Danny okay? He'd kill him if he died. But Danny wasn't in Afghanistan. He was back in Hawaii, and he'd been blown up. Why wasn't Steve there.

A voice in his head that sounded a lot like his dad was shouting 'Get up, son. You need to help Danny.' Steve rolled, pushing away the fog in his mind, seeing the concrete floor of the Upper West side apartment under his face. Reality flooded back, the pain he'd been feeling pushed away by a rush of adrenalin. He'd been so close to giving in, so close to letting Danny down.

The demon had turned away from him, looking towards the portal, and Steve knew what was happening. It had lost control of him, focusing instead on what was happening on the other side of the portal. He had to do something to save his partner - he couldn't not - regardless of the warning Danny had given him. He'd watched Danny die more times than he could remember and he wasn't going to let it happen again. Unsure if this was even real but he knew he couldn't not help.  
  
Danny stepped into the circle, seemingly having appeared out of thin air. Springing to his feet, pulling his K-bar from the sheath in his boot, Steve roared as he charged at the demon. Its eyeless stare flicked back to him, and away from Danny, who had scuttled back through the tear in reality. Steve prayed it wasn't a delusion spun by the demon, to make him break the circle, as he leapt.

Feeling a prickle on his skin, a burning crawl over his whole body, Steve passed through Danny's circle of power and plunged his knife into the demon's throat. The creature flailed, one of its arms thrashing into Steve and knocking the air out of him. But he held on, driving the knife in harder, twisting it into the black, scaled skin. The demon screamed, the sound raising goosebumps on Steve's skin and rattling his bones. He wanted to drop the knife and put his hands over his ears, but something was telling him to hang on, to push with body and mind, to drive it into the thing.

It twisted, still screaming, thrashing and falling to the ground. It rolled over Steve, making his ribs groan under its weight. And still he held the knife, driving it in further, his hands slipping on the hilt, as the creature's blood covered his hands. Pain lanced through his head, a howling stab of hurt from the demon, as it tried to mentally push him off. He thought he might be screaming, but he couldn't tell. Everything hurt, pain, more than he'd ever felt before, gouging at him, ripping him, body and mind. And he just wanted it stop, but he had to save Danny. He cried out, begging someone to help him.

He felt power surge through him; the sound of blowing conch shells, the scent of rum, the glide of fish swimming past him, and his mind cleared. Steve's grip tightened and he pushed the knife in deeper, shoving the power that washed through his mind out, focusing it on the blade. He wasn't sure he really believed in the god Agwe, that Marie said protected him, but he sent out thanks to whatever was lending him power and pushed it like a lance into the demon.

The demon gasped, spasmed, and then, with a blast of energy that burned across Steve's skin, lay still. Steve closed his eyes, the after images of the energy crawling like green worms across the back of his eyelids. The silence was total after the chaos of the past few seconds and Steve thought he might have gone deaf until, Danny spoke.

“Babe, what did you do?”


	7. Six

Danny jabbed the button on the vending machine and waited for what was probably going to be a terrible cup of coffee. He hated hospital coffee. It seemed to have a special kind of badness about it, as though it was already infused with worry and grief before it was even spat out of the machine. He hated hospitals.

Blowing on the surface of the beverage, he walked back towards Heather's room and tried not to add his own worry to the bitter liquid. His sister was fine, Steve was fine. Danny kept that mantra up along the corridor, past the nurses station, and round the corner. He didn't want to think how long Heather was going to be in hospital for, because even though she was alive, she was severely dehydrated, and her kidneys might have been damaged.

And he really didn't want to think about Steve and the fact that he'd somehow managed to kill a Chernobog demon, with an ordinary K-bar.

The Russians called them black gods and thought they brought evil things at night. They were pretty unstoppable without heavy duty magic and a sanctified blade. Danny was surprised the circle he'd cast had even held the thing. And the fact that Steve was still sane, or at least no less insane than before, was a minor miracle. He had his shoulder to the door of Heather's room, when he heard Steve's voice, and froze. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but the man had been virtually silent since he'd killed the demon, and Danny was worried.

“He's a friend,” Steve said, his voice quiet but insistent. “He won't mind.”

Heather didn't reply right away and Danny wondered who they were talking about. It could be him, but he didn't know what  Heather thought Steve may have done, that Danny might object to. Aside from the usual Steve madness .

“I'll call,” Heather croaked, her voice still making his ears hurt. “When I'm out of here.”

She'd been fine, kind of, until they'd stepped through the portal, and then the three days with no food or water had suddenly caught up with her. She'd gone down quickly, her eyes sinking into her skull and her skin drying and pulling tight. It was only Steve's experience that had stopped Danny giving her too much water, far too quickly.

Heather was hooked up to fluid replacement now, dripping slowly into her body, and she already looked less like a walking corpse. She wasn't going anywhere for a while, not if he or her doctors had anything to say about it, but she was back home and that was all he cared about.

“I can't tell you when's best,” Steve said, sounding like his words might actually be hurting. “But putting it off doesn't help.”

“Will you be calling?”

“Yeah,” Steve sighed. “I talk to a guy at Hickman every month or so. I'm pretty sorted now, but I've had some bad days. He's an ex-SEAL so he gets it.”

A light bulb went on in Danny's head as he realized Steve was talking about seeing a shrink. Given how much time they spent in each other's company, he was disgusted with his own detective skills, because he hadn't guessed at all. Danny was also pleased that Steve wasn't as careless with his mind as he was with his body.

“You've seen some bad stuff?” Heather asked, and Danny knew she had already guessed what the answer would be.

“Yeah,” Steve said quietly, and Danny could imagine exactly what kind of stupid stoic face his partner was probably pulling. “I've had some pretty hardcore nightmares, but talking about it really helps. Especially with someone who understands what it's like. Not sure what I'm going to tell him about this though.”

Heather laughed, and Danny's heart swelled about a million times in his chest. Steve, Commander Stoic McPrivate himself, was willingly sharing details about his mental health to make his sister feel better and help her find someone to talk to. What he'd done to deserve a partner who drove him insane, and made him want to hug him in equal measures, he wasn't sure. But Danny was glad he had Steve at his back.

But he couldn't stand in the corridor for ever, and they needed to find out what Heather knew before she fell asleep again. He put his shoulder to the door, and barreled in like he hadn't been listening. “Right, water for you Steve, and vile hospital sludge for me.”

“You don't have to drink it,” Heather said, the look in her eyes telling him she was pretty sure he'd been listening.

“Pfftt,” Danny said, waving off her arguments, and flipping Steve the finger when he smirked. “It's tradition.”

“You just like having something to complain about,” Heather said, and Steve laughed out loud.

Danny grinned at him, glad to see Steve coming out of the funk he'd been in, even if it meant he was the butt of the joke. Steve didn't laugh enough, even on the best of days, and this was so very much not a good day. He hadn't said anything, but Danny knew what powerful demons like a Cernobog could do to humans and he was surprised Steve wasn’t a gibbering wreck.

“I don't know why I rescued you,” Danny said, wagging his finger at Heather. “All you do is insult me. You see this, Steve? My sister doesn't appreciate me. You want to swap? I'll take Mary and you can have this ungrateful one.”

“She seems perfectly sensible to me,” Steve said with a grin.

“If I get to keep you, handsome, I'll take that deal,” Heather said sleepily.

Steve blushed and Danny couldn't contain his laugh. For such an attractive guy, and one who could be confidently charming even if Danny was never going to admit that, Steve was endearingly disarmed by compliments.

“He's so cute, Danny,” Heather said with a grin, before a massive yawn over took her. “You should keep him.”

Danny didn't really know what to say to that, because he realized he did want to keep Steve, and not in a purely platonic way. It wasn't as startling a realization as it probably should have been, but Danny still didn't quite know what to do with it. Noticing Heather's eyes getting heavier and heavier, he pushed the thought aside and turned the conversation to what had gone on in the past few days.

“You're getting tired,” he said, squeezing Heather’s hand. “And we need to ask some questions.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said, giving him a little smile. “Ask away.”

“Why don't you tell what happened?” Danny said, because he knew better than to lead a witness, but also he knew his sister well. She was observant, smart and knew the sort of thing they were likely to need to know. Assuming she didn't fall asleep, they could ask questions later.

“Okay,” Heather said, shuffling herself up the bed. Danny moved to try to help her with the pillows but she waved him off with a sleepy glare. “Don't fuss, I'm fine.”

“Heather,” Danny protested, because she clearly wasn't fine at all. Her eyes were still a little sunken in, and her skin looked dry and pale. And he didn't want to think about how painful her cracked lips were.

“Danny,” Steve warned quietly, shooting him a look that was enough to snap him out of the little spiral of guilt and worry. They needed information from Heather, and it wasn’t going to help if they got into an argument about how ill she really was.

“S'alright,” Heather murmured, before taking a deep breath. “Okay, so last week, a guy I know told me he'd been tracking a Jersey Devil but he'd found something else. He's a total nut-ball Devil-hunter, so I was pretty sure he was going to tell me he'd seen Sasquatch or something. Anyway I was writing all the details down, just to get him out of the office when he pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of Solomonic circle.”

“Solomonic?” Steve asked, and then looked sheepish. “Sorry. I guess there's going to be loads I don't know. I'll shut up.”

“Ask what you need to,” Heather said with a tired smile. “No point you not understanding something when you're going to have to help Danny catch the guy.”

At Steve's nod, Heather carried on. “A Solomonic circle is a pretty complex casting circle, meant for summoning things, demons mostly. Something like that, takes work, a lot of work. And it was painted on a cloth.”

“On a cloth?” Danny asked before he could stop himself.

“I know,” Heather agreed, before turning to Steve. “Casting normally needs to be tied to the ground, earthed as it were, so being able to use a summoning circle painted on a cloth, that's pretty special. It takes so much more power it's untrue. Anyway, I didn't know if it had been used, so it could have just been a really determined goth playing at magic.”

“He told me he'd seen it when he was following up reports of a Devil round East Orange. So I went up there and staked out the Reservation car park where he'd parked too. I figured that was as good a place to start as any, because the guy said he thought he'd seen a truck when he was out there, but hadn't paid it much attention.”

“And of course you didn't tell anyone where you were going,” Danny said, unable to stop himself. She was such a fool.

“Would you?” Heather demanded, angry and ready for a fight. “I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

“Yeah, that went so well,” Danny sniped, letting the anger he'd been holding on to surface.

“Danny, leave it,” Steve ordered gently, and Danny deflated. He was really annoyed by Heather, but he was also really fucking grateful she was okay, and he was willing to let the anger slide for now. For all she looked ready to verbally go toe to toe with him, she also looked like she might pass out any minute. And they really needed to get her story finished because Danny had a feeling this whole thing wasn’t over.

“Okay,” Danny said, blowing out a breath to calm himself down. “Carry on.”

Heather glared at him for a moment longer before she looked away and obviously forced herself to relax. “So, I sat in the car park for a couple of nights and didn’t see anything. I thought it was going to be a complete washout. Then on Friday night, a truck pulls in and a guy gets out, pulls a roll of canvas out of the back and heads into the woods.”

Heather paused for a moment, sipping from the glass of water on her bedside table. Danny was going to tell her to stop if she needed to but she carried on. “I called my contact in Newark PD to run the plate for me and followed the guy into the woods. She texted me back the name William Retson about five minutes later. Does he own the apartment?”

“Yeah,” Steve said before Danny could answer. “Chin said he used to be an investment banker who was let go when Goldman Sachs crashed.”

“Great, he's gone from destroying the economy to destroying the world,” Danny said angrily.

“Destroying the world?” Steve asked, sounding like he couldn't decide if he was skeptical or amused.

“What do you think's going to happen when he summons a demon and lets it lose?” Danny asked, annoyed, but not by Steve. “The demon you faced, imagine that loose in the city. Pushing its hallucinations into people's minds, making them do God knows what.”

Steve paled, and Danny cursed himself for reminding him of what he'd been through in the hours he'd face the Cernobog. “Right.”

“And there's things out there that are way worse,” Danny said, and Heather nodded. “We're just lucky he didn't summon something really bad.”

“He did,” Heather said, and Danny gaped at her. “It wasn't a Cernobog in the woods.”

“What was it?” Steve asked, squaring his shoulders and so obviously getting himself ready for a fight that it made Danny's heart squeeze in his chest, The idiot didn't know what it was he might face, but it didn't matter, he'd stand with Danny and do his best to save the world, even if it cost him his life.

“I don’t know,” Heather said, snapping Danny out of his urge to tell Steve he should go back to Hawai'i, and get as far away from this as possible. “It was big, way bigger than the Cernobog. And, god, but it was powerful, Danny. So strong. I tracked Retson up in the woods and he'd already summoned it when I caught up with him.”

“Way too fast,” Danny muttered.

“Right,” Heather said, serious and scared. “I think he wasn't just using that spot because the demon wouldn't fit in his apartment. It's a node, Danny, I'm sure it is.”

“A node?” Steve was looking frustrated that the conversation was getting away from him again.

“There's points where there's power,” Danny explained. “If you know where they are, if you can harness the power, it makes everything you want to do easier, especially summoning.”

“On top of that, the demon he's been summoning is really strong,” Heather said. “Stronger than Retson thinks. I'm pretty sure he believes he was the one who pushed me through to the other dimension, but he wasn't, it was really the demon. Retson's not in control of it.”

“That's what I was worried about,” Danny sighed. Why did every idiot with a little bit of magical power think they were going to be the ones who could control demons, when no one else could? The world was full of people who thought they were special, and that the rules didn’t apply to them. Fortunately most of them didn't do much worse than speed in their cars, but there were always a few who had grander ideas. Like summoning demons.

“So, if he's not really controlling the demon, what's it waiting for?” Steve asked, making Danny smile. The man might be new to all of this, but he was still working all the angles.

“I'm not sure,” Danny said, wishing he had more information. “But we need to find out.”

“Go see Nana,” Heather said, through a giant yawn.

“We will, sis,” Danny said, smoothing his hand over her forehead. “You get some sleep. Mom and Pop'll be here soon.”

“Thanks Danny,” Heather murmured, her eyes getting heavier with each passing minute. “For finding me.”

“Hey, you're my baby sister,” Danny said, round the lump in his throat. “Of course I came for you.”

“I'm taller than you, squirt,” Heather protested, using the nickname that came out whenever he called her baby.

Steve laughed, and squeezed Heather's hand. “I'm glad you're okay, Heather. I'll be outside, D.”

Danny watched Steve leave, a smile on his face, only looking back when Heather groaned. “You have got it so bad.”

“What?” Danny said, even though he was pretty sure what she was going to say.

“It's okay though,” Heather said, yawning again, her eyes mostly closed. “Because I'm pretty sure he does too.”

“I think you need to get some sleep,” Danny protested, leaning in and kissing her hair. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Kay,” she managed, snuggling down in the bed.

Danny watched her for a few moments, hardly believing she was back with them, and well enough to actually be talking to them. It was only her skill and patience that had kept her alive in the demon dimension, and Danny couldn't help but be a little in awe of her. Sure, he could have cast the circle just like she'd done, probably could have held it solid like she had too, but he wouldn't have. He'd have gone on the offensive, unable to sit still and wait for rescue, and he'd probably have been killed doing it. And even if he'd beaten every demon that had come for him, he wouldn't have gotten out, because you didn't just find open doors by wandering around.

For once, he was stupidly pleased with that fact that Heather had an easy grasp of her power and the patience to stay focused on creating stunningly strong protective works.  Back when they were learning how to cast, it used to make him rage with frustration when she outpaced him, despite being younger. If luck had fallen the other way she'd have probably been dead, even if he'd ever found her.

With one last brush of his hand over Heather's hair, he left her sleeping, and went to find Steve. He needed to discover how a man who apparently had no magical skill had killed a Cernobog with an ordinary K-bar. And he wanted to tell Steve about how he'd turned his pocket change into weapons. It might lead to pleading and puppy-dog eyes, when the man tried to get his own explosive coins, but Danny didn't care. Getting Steve's mind off whatever the demon had pushed into it was all that mattered.

That, and saving the world.

Even though Steve thought he looked exhausted,  Danny was in expansive mood at the wheel of the car as they crawled through Midtown traffic towards the Lower East Side. It was already dark and Steve wished they could just go back to Danny's parent's house and collapse into bed. He wasn't sure he would sleep, but his body needed the rest and he'd happily take it if they could. But there was no way either of them would rest until this, whatever it was, had played out. 

“You listening to me?” Danny demanded, poking him in the side and breaking his reverie.

“Yeah, sure,” Steve said, even though he had no idea what Danny had been saying. They'd talked about how Danny had rescued Heather, with Danny laughing at Steve when he'd begged for his own set of exploding coins. His partner had explained that it wasn't as simple as him making some and handing them over to Steve. If Steve wanted to have his own, he had to learn to make them, because they didn't just explode on contact, the power had to be released by the person throwing them.

Steve's disappointment had been somewhat tempered by Danny insisting there was no reason, for a man who'd killed a Cernobog with a plain K-bar to need exploding coins. Steve still wasn't really sure about how demons were classified and who studied them, b ut, because Danny was dragging him to see Nana, he was beginning to get how much of a big deal it was.

He was pretty sure that Danny would have tried to go on his own, if he hadn't wanted some kind of answers to how the demon was killed. His partner seemed to be genuinely scared of the person they were going to see, and it had Steve really worried. If he was more worried about meeting this woman than stepping through a portal to another dimension, how bad was she?

“Babe, you wandered off again,” Danny said gently, bringing him back to their conversation. “What's got your circuits burning now?”

“Nothing, Danno,” Steve said with a smile he was sure wasn't reaching his eyes. “Just tired.”

Danny eyed him suspiciously but didn't call him on it. “I know. As soon as we're done with Nana, we're heading home, no matter what she says. If there's a demon invasion coming tonight, someone else'll just have to pick up the slack.”

Steve knew it was a lie, they'd both be there, facing whatever was coming, even if they were dead on their feet. But it was nice to say it, and imagine that they could go to a nice safe, normal house and shut the door on all the weird shit that they'd seen that day.

“That sounds good,” Steve agreed, willing to play along with his partner.

“We'll order in some proper pizza,” Danny said, grinning like an idiot at the idea of finally getting Steve to some of his beloved pie.

“I could eat,” Steve said, realizing he was actually really hungry now Danny had mentioned food.

“Shit,” Danny cursed, looking around the car like finding Steve something to eat was the most important thing in the world. “We should stop, get some food in you.”

“I can wait,” Steve said, his own tension ratcheting up to match his partner's, even though he had no idea why.

“No, it's not that,” Danny insisted. “You can't eat or drink anything at Nana's, even though she's going to offer. Going in there hungry is just reckless.”

“Why can't I eat?” Steve asked suspiciously, suddenly picturing all the TV shows he'd seen about hoarders, mad old cat ladies.

“You just can't,” Danny said evasively, his eyes fixed on the road. 

“Danny,” Steve warned, not willing to get brushed off. Hadn't he been through enough today to not get fobbed off with a stupid answer?

“Okay.” Danny gave in with a sigh, glancing at Steve, his bottom lip caught in his teeth, obviously trying to work out what to say. “This is either going to sound really stupid, or make you want to go in there, all guns blazing.”

“Just tell me.”

“If you eat or drink anything there, even so much as a crumb, you won't be able to leave.”

“What?”

“I know,” Danny agreed, looking really weary. “It's stupid, but it's true. And don’t think this is just saying no to a nice old lady who's offering you a glass of milk. She is, quite literally, a force of nature. If she thinks you've got something she wants, she'll offer you things, play with your head until you forget and just reach out for that little cookie, or that glass of water, and that's it, you're stuck there. Unless you get an ironclad agreement first, and that's never going to happen. Not with Nana.”

“A force of nature?” Danny hated people who used the word literally when they shouldn’t. Him using it meant that this Nana was something more than human.

“Why do you always pick up on the part I want you to ignore?” Danny said with a tired smile. “She's a genius loci.”

“Genius loci?” Steve repeated, trying to translate the Latin and only partially succeeding.

“Spirit of the place,” Danny said, sounding like he wished he could walk away from the conversation. “I don't know how it really works, but she's the living spirit of New York. Or Manhattan at least.”

“What?”

“I know, okay,” Danny said. “It's stupid, and I don't believe in gods, but she's the equivalent of a river goddess or a volcano god. I can't explain it, it just is, and as much as I'd like to ignore all the superstition and crap that goes with it, I just can't.”

“But you did at the heiau,” Steve protested, remembering Danny's adamant refusal to listen to the rest of the team.

“Because there was no spirit there,” Danny said, sounding so sad Steve wanted to hug him right there and then. “If there ever was a spirit of that place, it'd gone. There was no power, nothing to stop us doing our jobs. But I couldn't tell you why I knew that. I'm not saying there aren't genius loci in Hawaii, because believe me there are, but they're tied to nature and living things. They don't want to hang around the dead.”

“But people worshiped there,” Steve said, trying to get his head round his own argument before he tried to explain. “Doesn't that mean power gets left there, like in Retson's apartment?”

“It might, but it has to be a whole hell of a lot of power, not just prayers. Normally these things are natural spirits; streams, rivers, that sort of thing, but sometimes people who use a lot of magic, in a certain place that has a very distinct presence, become them. At least that's how I understand it.”

“And that's what Nana is?” Steve asked, still not sure he really believed what Danny said.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, turning their vehicle on to a narrow street with cars parked on both sides. “As far as I know, she came here in the 1650s, pretty much in the clothes she stood up in, and never left.”

“She's three hundred and fifty years old?” Despite everything that Danny had said, that still surprised him. Nature spirits, fine he could kind of deal with that, but that a human being was so old was almost too much to comprehend.

“Older,” Danny said, pulling the car up in front of a plain, redbrick fronted tenement building, squashed between an Asian supermarket and a dollar store. “When she arrived, she already had three kids. Then there were another six once she got here.”

“Where'd she come from?”

“She's never said,” Danny replied, getting out of the car. “And don’t think about trying to work it out. There's no records of who she is. She's just Nana and she's been here longer than any of the buildings.”

“So, what?” Steve asked, unfolding himself out of the car and smoothing down his pants. “She just lives here and helps people?”

“Kind of,” Danny said with a laugh, as he pushed the buzzer on the nondescript door of the building they'd parked in front of. “She raised all her kids to adulthood, and their kids, and then their kids, and so on. You've done history, so you know about infant mortality. Other kids died, but hers didn't. She was their Nana and great Nana and so on. She just kept on living and taking care of her family.”

“So you are related?” Steve asked, confused because he'd been sure she wasn't actually a member of the family.

“Babe, do the math,” Danny said, giving him a gleeful smirk, because it wasn't often he got to prove his smarts to Steve. “After three hundred and fifty years, pretty much all of the eastern seaboard is related to her in some way.”

Steve didn't get a chance to reply, before the door clicked and swung open and Danny walked into the building. He took a deep breath and followed his partner through.

Steve wasn't sure what he'd pictured the interior looking like, but it certainly wasn't what he found. The neighborhood wasn't exactly the best, and the exterior of this dilapidated tenement wasn't out of place, even if it was the only one on the block without a business on the first floor. Inside, the shabbiness was gone, and he was faced with a modern, pale wooden staircase that led directly up to the second floor.

Steve pushed the door closed behind him, and followed Danny up, surprised again when the second floor opened out in to a huge, light, airy living room. The furniture had the kind of quietly understated look that screamed money, and lots of it. He realized he'd been stupid to assume because Nana lived in a less than salubrious neighborhood, that she hadn't accrued three hundred years of wealth. She probably owned the building. Hell, she probably owned all the buildings on the block.

“Daniel,” a voice said, and Steve realized one of the chairs by the unlit fireplace, was occupied. “Always a pleasure to see you.”

“Likewise, Nana,” Danny said, walking across the room towards her, with all the swaggering bravado he usually had when facing off against Kiwika. Filing that away for analysis later, Steve looked at the woman who was staring at them both with undisguised interest.

Steve was pretty sure her greyish blonde hair was dyed, and it had been set in short curls. She was wearing  pink framed spectacles and a blue-green floral dress. She looked for all the world like a kindly grandma, aging gracefully, and still active. But Steve could see something in her eyes that, even without knowing who she was, would have given him pause. Steve felt the press of years, the wealth of knowledge and its spreading reach wash over him.

“And who's your friend?” she asked, fixing Steve with a look that made his skin crawl.

“He's just that,” Danny said before Steve could introduce himself. “You don't need to know any more about him.”

She laughed, and Steve felt some of the tension lift from the room. “Always so protective of those you care about, Danny.”

“Always,” Danny agreed, and Steve felt a little bubble of happiness in his chest.

“Sit, sit,” she instructed, pointing at the chairs. Steve wasn't sure if that was against Danny's rules, but when his partner sat, he did the same.

Steve almost jumped out of his skin when a younger woman came soundlessly up the stairs behind them, carrying a tray. As she put the teapot, cups and plate of cake down on the coffee table, Steve walked himself through a few mental exercises to calm himself down. The day had taken a lot out of him mentally, and he was man enough to admit that to himself.

“We'll drink some tea and talk about your sister,” Nana said, her smile not nearly as guileless as it should have been.

“No tea, thank you,” Danny said firmly, with a grin that was equally false.

“And your friend, wouldn't he like some?” she asked, and Steve found he really, really wanted a cup of tea. Knowing he should say no, because Danny had told him not to, he couldn't see what harm could it do. He was thirsty, really thirsty, and a perfectly brewed cup of tea would be just what he wanted. He could sit here and drink it and not worry about anything else.

“Stop it,” Danny shouted, and Steve realized his hand was curled around a cup of tea. “If you try to keep him, I will end you. Don't think I won't.”

Nana tilted her head to one side considering them, and Steve had a flash of a younger woman, someone who'd been strong enough to pack up her three kids and sail across an ocean without any support. She nodded slightly and the tension broke.

“What did your sister say?” she asked, perfectly coolly, as though she hadn't just tried to kidnap him.

“There's a guy summoning demons,” Danny said. “But you already knew that, didn't you?”

She considered Danny for a moment, obviously debating what to say, before coming to some kind of conclusion. “I knew someone was messing with the power in the city, and I guessed it was probably demons. It usually is.”

“Retson, that's the S.O.B. who's doing this, isn't in control of the demon,” Danny explained, relaxing just a little as he spoke. “It was the demon who pushed her through to its own dimension, not Retson. She said the demon could have easily broken out of the circle but it didn't, and I need to know why you think that is.”

“What kind of demon?” Nana asked, her gaze intense on Danny.

Danny sighed. “We don't know. She didn't recognize it. Big, overwhelming power, that's pretty much all she got.”

“Hmmm,” Nana said, looking a little more worried than before. “And you didn't see it?”

“No,” Danny said. “When I found her there were just gargoyle things there.”

“Boggarts,” Nana corrected.

“Boggarts,” Danny repeated, trying out the word. Steve thought his partner would probably still be using gargoyle to describe them.

“And you didn't see anything else?” Nana asked.

“No, well, other than the cernobog that Steve killed.”

“You killed a cernobog?” Nana demanded, her gaze snapping to him and pinning him in place.

“Yes, ma'am,” he said, his mouth suddenly incredibly dry.

“You hide your power well,” she said with a frown, and Steve felt her reach out mentally to examine him.

He couldn't breathe, pinned in the web of power that stretched out over the whole city. Nana plucked the threads and the city sang, catching him, reaching into him and stretching him across the web. He was nothing, and everything, shrunk to a single cell and was suddenly everyone in the city. He felt them, every one of them, and felt their eyes turn on him, then he was back on the sofa.

“Jesus,” Steve breathed, not sure he could move even if his life depended on it.

“Babe,” Danny said, suddenly next to him, his hand on Steve's forehead. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Steve reassured him, wishing he could drink the tea that still sat on the table. Feeling like he'd run a marathon, or been in an all day firefight, he was pretty sure he was shaking all over.

“He'll be fine,” Nana said, her face shrewd as she looked at them both. “He's a quite remarkable man.”

“And killing the cernobog?” Danny asked.

“Show me the knife,” she said, and Steve pulled it out, unsurprised by the fact that she knew about it, even though neither of them had told her what happened.

She took it from his hand, and Steve felt a pang of anxiety handing it over. Looking at the blade, she smoothed her finger along the edge and flicked her nails on the handle. With a little hum of concentration, she closed her eyes and held it in front of her for a few moments.

“It seems you've had your very own Harry Potter moment,” she said when she opened her eyes.

“What?” Danny asked before Steve could even parse what she'd said.

“His love for you made him powerful,” she said, and Steve felt his face flame. “And that power turned the knife into an adamant blade.”

“Christ!” Danny said, his face filled with awe. 

His partner's reaction snapped Steve out of the embarrassment of having his feelings held out there for all to see. “An adamant blade?”

“It's mythic, babe,” Danny said, looking at his with a gleeful grin. “You turned the knife into a demon destroying weapon that most magicians only dream of.”

Steve didn't know what to say. It was the first time Danny had used the word magician, and somehow that was the thing that made it all seem so much bigger, realer, more insane. And he still didn't understand what he'd done. “But how?”

“For a guy who knows so much, your pop culture is really for shit,” Danny said with an eye roll. “Harry Potter's mom protected him from Voldemort by deflecting the killing curse with her love.”

“I think,” Nana said, still studying the knife. “It may be more than just love. I think you two have become entangled, magically. When I reach out, in the aether, I can see people as flares of light, some brighter than others, all different and all beautifully human. And you two, you're different, but the same, tied together and swirling around each other.”

Steve didn't really understand what that meant. He loved Danny, he knew that, even if admitting it was more than familial love, wasn't something he wanted to think about right now. Or ever. But that didn't explain how he'd apparently used magic to kill a demon by transforming a knife into something else.

“I've never seen it happen before,” Nana said, and Steve hoped it was to answer what was an obvious question, and not because she could read his mind.

“What does it mean for us?” Danny asked, biting his bottom lip. “I mean, is it going to change us or something?”

“I don't know, Daniel,” Nana said, giving him a soft smile. “But this didn't happen recently, in case you're thinking you shouldn't have bought him with you. You were already tied together when you landed at Newark.”

“You were watching us?” Danny asked, and Steve couldn't decide whether he was angry or surprised.

“I was waiting for you,” she explained, reaching for the cup of tea she'd poured for herself. “There is something coming, and you're part of it.”

“I am?” Danny said, definitely surprised.

“I don't see the future, like your mother,” she said, and Danny flinched just a little at the mention of his mom's power. “But I feel my city and her people. There's something weighing on the edge of thought, something pulling at the web that binds us all. A darkness that's swallowing people one by one. I don’t know for sure what it is, although I'm guessing it's a demon, but the shape of the disruption started to change when your sister vanished. When you arrived the balance shifted and I felt hope.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Danny asked, sounding weary and worn down.

“You will do what you must, Daniel,” Nana said, straightening her back and suddenly looking less like an old lady. “But know this, you are stronger than you think. You always were, but now you have Steve to draw on, and he has you.”

“That's great,” Danny sighed. “But it doesn't help us know what we need to do to fight the demon.”

“No, it doesn't,” Nana said, sounding like she wished she could give them a set of orders to follow. “But I will give you something that I haven't shared with anyone since Tesla.”

“The Tesla?” Steve asked, suddenly realizing what being three hundred years old meant. “You met Nikola Tesla?”

“He was an interesting man,” Nana said, giving Steve a bright smile. “Crazy, but interesting. And he had a modicum of power, and the ability to charm an old lady into sharing some of her secrets.”

“I don't believe that for a second,” Danny said, earning himself a sharp look from Nana. “You got something out of it, or you wouldn't have done it.”

“That would be telling,” she said after a moment, conceding Danny's point with a little smile. “And that's something you won't be doing. What I'm going to do now is not for general knowledge, even among the magically inclined. Especially amongst them. Now, come here.”

She motioned for them to come towards her and Steve glanced at Danny. He wasn't going to even think of moving before he got a sign from his partner. It was immensely disconcerting to have to rely on someone else for guidance. He hated to not be the one making the decisions and not having all the knowledge, but he trusted Danny beyond everything.

After a few moments of stillness, Danny sighed and stood up. Steve matched him and they approached Nana. “I know you will want to stand, but I suggest you sit or kneel. This will be disconcerting.”

“I feel like I'm at kindergarten,” Danny grumbled sinking to the floor to sit at Nana's feet.

“You were cuter then,” Nana said with a smirk, and Steve couldn't help his snort of amusement.

“Get down here, gigantor,” Danny ordered, pointing at the floor.

Steve sat facing Danny, and Nana held out her hands. Danny somewhat reluctantly took hold of her right and Steve followed suit with the left. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither quite knowing where to look. It was too weird, just sitting looking at each other. But Steve knew he couldn't look away in case he missed something, and he was about to ask what they were supposed to do when he felt it. Danny's eyes widened a fraction, and Steve knew he'd felt it too.

“Close your eyes,” Nana ordered, and Danny obeyed instantly. Steve hesitated for a moment, not wanting to let his guard down, perhaps leaving them open to danger. Nana squeezed his hand, and he knew he had to trust her or they wouldn't get what they needed. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes.

The instant he did, he felt a rush of movement, a throb of power, and almost snapped his eyes open again. Instead, he gritted his teeth and let himself go.


	8. Seven

The city was all around him, in him, holding him, and Danny felt free. He'd fallen at first, terrified, and then it had slowed, or he had slowed, and he felt the city grow, saw the changes come and go. He reached out and he could feel Nana at the center of it, her immense power seeping into the city, feeding it, helping it grow. And the city gave back, joyful and vibrant, keeping Nana alive. They encircled each other, woven together, closer than lovers, one and the same.

He reached out further and found Steve. He was there, right at his side, and Danny felt a sense of belonging so strong he wanted to do nothing but wrap himself in it and never move. Steve reached out for him too, their energy twining around each other, flaring and sparking as they came together. Danny felt breathless, heated, lost in the sense of belonging that surrounded him.

Nana tugged at them, and he fought her, wanting nothing but Steve. Nothing mattered but losing himself in the fire that engulfed them. Steve swirled around him, soothing and then stoking the flames, binding tighter and tighter. Danny welcomed him, reaching out to push into the empty spaces in Steve, to fill them with love and belonging.

A bolt of power pushed them apart, and Danny thought he might die. Steve screamed, or Danny thought he did, but then there was peace. Nana's power washed over them, settled and soothed them. She held them to her, close enough to touch each other, but kept them from burning up. They calmed, and Danny distantly felt his heart slow and his breathing even out.

Nana turned them towards the city, guided them to look as it opened to them. Danny saw fields and marsh become roads and tenements. He smelled horse manure and unwashed bodies, coal fires and wood smoke, heard the clatter of hooves and iron rimmed wheels. The city grew and changed, the people burning bright and beautiful as they came and went. Danny wanted to cry for them, each person living and dying in the city, giving it power.

He could see the power settling into the city, permeating everything and coalescing into a web. Some of the strands of light grew brighter and where they crossed, more power flowed in. He could see the ghosts of buildings forming around the nodes, streets being laid out along the lines, and he realized Manhattan was creating its own ley lines.

The lines spread and interwove but, in the end, they all came back to where they stood, the place where Nana had made her home. Danny wondered which came first, her or the node, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was the disturbance he could feel pulling at the lines, stretching them all to breaking point. He tried to find the source, reached out with his own power, dragging Steve's along with him, and the city cried for him.

Steve's quick mind thought about searching for hidden things, about heavier objects distorting planet's orbits, and Danny heard him. They moved along the lines together, feeling for the pull of whatever it was distorting the power of the city. They sped down ghostly streets packed with the shades of three hundred years. People and horses, cars and buildings, fire and smoke, the blare of sirens and the dim thrum of humanity.

Danny's heart broke, as they shot through the scared node where the World Trade center had been. The pain was still so raw in the pulse of the city, even as the new buildings rose around it. Tears pricked in his eyes as they flashed through the shadow of riots in Harlem and Christopher Street. Blood in the streets and pain burning in the residents, as the police beat young men. He shouted with joy as they crashed through decades of Time Square ball drops, excitement and hope making him drunk with happiness.

They zipped and swerved all over the city. Nana's presence was no more than an indulgent smile as they sped this way and that, hunting for their demon, but also chasing each other just for the sheer joy of it. Danny could feel Steve laughing as they tumbled and fell through the where and when of Manhattan, spinning and diving like a fish in the ocean. He felt alight with possibilities, as alive and vibrant as the city that welcomed them.

Unsure how long they played, Danny began to feel a niggling pain that pulled him towards midtown. There was s omething fetid and cold settling around Grand Central Station. Steve darted towards it but Danny held him back, wrapping around him and slowing them to a crawl. He sent out searching, gentle questing tendrils along the lines that ran towards the infected node. He felt his fingers twitch and burn, as, whatever it was, turned and looked at them.

Fire burned over him and he howled in agony. Steve was screaming too, both of them pinned in place by the thing looking at them, into them. He felt a pull and a snap and he was on the floor of Nana's apartment wrapped around Steve, as they sobbed like children.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Nana said, her voice unsteady.

“What was that?” Danny managed to gasp, shaking as he clung to Steve.

“John Dee called it Choronzon,” Nana said, standing and stepping over them. “The Dweller of the Abyss, the personification of the formless, malignant power of the outer reaches. Aleister Crowley said that facing it was the last step in achieving enlightenment. He was talking crap, of course.”

“How do we fight it?” Steve asked, trying to sit up. Danny was quietly pleased when all the other man managed was to flop ineffectively on his back, limbs obviously as wobbly as Danny's own.

“We don't,” Nana said, pouring herself a glass of scotch and downing it in one coughing gulp. “You find the idiot who summoned it, kill him, and hope it isn't strong enough to come through without him. ”

Steve was beginning to hate the ceiling of the bedroom in Danny's parents house.  So tired he could barely move, yet for the second night running, he was still lying awake staring at the small crack that ran through the molding.  Every time he closed his eyes he saw the city, felt an echo of the power thrumming through him, and he wanted to just dive back in. 

He thought he might be able to if he tried, if he let go enough and pushed out into it. Nana had said they were tied to her, and to it, now, for a while at least. And he knew it was just there, within his reach. It wasn’t that he wanted to go back into the city itself, although he suspected there'd never be anything else like the rush of diving into the web of power. No, what he wanted was the closeness to Danny.

Being out in the real world, after feeling what they'd shared before Nana had pulled them apart, was like losing a limb, a limb he hadn't known about before. Sure, he knew he had a thing for Danny, he was willing to admit that much, and there had been moments where he'd wondered if Danny shared his feelings, but he'd dismissed them as wishful thinking. But now? Now he knew.

They hadn't spoken about it. Not when they'd run through what they knew with Nana, not during the silent drive back to the Williams house, not even when they were alone in the house heading to bed. They had a job to do, demons to defeat, and a city to save. And they couldn't afford to be distracted.

But now, lying in quiet darkness, Steve wanted to talk about it. He wanted to tell Danny that he loved him, that he would never, ever love anyone else. He wanted to try and put into words just what he'd felt in those few moments that they'd swirled around each other, the overwhelming sense of belonging that made his eyes prick with tears at its loss.

“Oh babe,” Danny whispered from the other bed. “Come here.”

He looked over at Danny, who had lifted the covers and scooted back against the wall, making space for him. Steve didn't even think, he just got out of his own bed and climbed into Danny's, pressing in close and burying his face in his neck. Danny's arms wrapped around him and pulled him in tight.

“Reach out, Steve, just a little,” Danny said quietly, one hand moving up to cradle the back of his head. “Don't go all the way to the city, just a little bit, and you'll feel me there. I know it's all new, everything that happened today, but I've seen you do tougher things than this.”

Steve wasn’t sure he knew how, not without Nana's help to get him there, but he wanted so much to have the feeling back he tried. Letting his mind find the same shape it had before, the subtle change in the world, the loss of control it needed, he felt a ghost of something brush past his mind.

“That's it babe,” Danny said, his breath warm on Steve's neck. “Nearly there.”

Steve tried again, letting himself reach out in to the unknown, towards Danny. He felt it, so subtle he almost missed it, the slightest of touches against his mind, and leapt at it. It wasn't the all-consuming joining he'd felt at Nana's, but it was unmistakably Danny, warm and bright, surrounding him mentally as well as physically.

He could feel Danny's happiness that he had done it. His love, his pride at everything Steve had achieved that day. Steve answered it with his own joy at finding this, at having Danny here with him. They sank into it, wrapping around each other, and Steve felt himself relax. Danny was warmth, home and family, safety and friendship. His breathing evened out and Steve allowed himself to follow.


	9. Eight

Danny jerked awake, heart pounding, nose to nose with Steve who looked as freaked out as Danny was. “What was that?”

“I'm pretty sure that's what a demon waking up feels like, if you're New York City,” Danny said, realizing he was still wrapped around Steve, both physically and mentally. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, even with the creeping horror that was spreading through their connection to the city.

“Babe,” he breathed, leaning forward slowly, never breaking eye contact with Steve until their lips met.

It wasn't the fevered, frantic kiss he'd imagined when he'd thought about how it might happen, if they ever got to this point. It was soft, just a quiet press of lips, but their mental bond flared like a fire-storm. Steve groaned softly, pulling back from the kiss and licking his lips.

“Will we get to keep this?” he asked, his eyes guarded, but with something Danny thought might be hope simmering in the background.

“I don't know,” he had to admit, wishing he had more answers for his friend. “I hope so, because it's pretty fucking amazing.”

Steve grinned like Danny had given him the whole world and darted forward to kiss him, a quick urgent slide of lips and tongue that promised so much more. Danny wanted nothing more than to pull Steve down and bask in the heat flaring between them, but they had a city to save.

“When this is over, we're getting a hotel room and not leaving the bed for at least a day,” Danny said, when they pulled apart. “But right now, we need to get over to Grand Central and stop Retson doing something really fucking stupid.”

“How do we do that?” Steve asked, getting out of bed and adjusting his boxer briefs.

Danny knew they had urgent places to be but he found himself taking a few seconds to enjoy the view. Steve had an amazing ass and Danny couldn't help but admire how the black fabric clung just right.

“Are you ogling my ass?” Steve asked, realizing Danny was still in bed. Before Danny could answer, Steve's face did something complicated and he looked suddenly earnest and uptight. “We can't let our personal feelings get in the way of our jobs, Danny. I won't let you put yourself in danger because we're more than friends.”

“Babe,” Danny reassured him, rolling out of bed and standing in front of the other man. “I've been ogling your ass, and any other part of you I could, pretty much since we met. I think we'll manage.”

Steve's cheeks pinked up, a hint of a blush creeping up his neck, as he looked down shyly at his feet. “Really?”

“Really,” Danny said, adjusting his own boxers because Steve looking so cute was doing nothing to diminish his morning wood. “You're a very attractive oglee. Now put your pants on, we're going to save the world.”

Steve blinked at him for a second and then laughed, honest joy sliding through the bond they still felt. Danny grinned as he grabbed his clothes. They were going to throw themselves in front of whatever disaster was racing New York's way. Frankly that terrified him, but he had Steve with him, grinning like an idiot and just as willing to face death as he was. They were clearly a terrible influence on each other, but he didn't want it any other way.

~H50~

Steve was glad Danny had finally let him drive, if only because it gave him something to do while the other man made endless phone calls. He slammed on the brakes as the driver in front decided he was going to pull into a parking garage with no warning. “Idiot!”

“Welcome to New York,” Danny said laughing, as he shut off his phone. “Look out for a cruiser up ahead. We should make better progress then.”

“We're getting an escort?” Steve was surprised, given the conversation in the Lincoln Tunnel when Danny had been forced to stop making calls. “I thought the authorities don't know about all this?”

“They don't,” Danny said, wincing slightly as Steve slewed their car around a wobbling pizza delivery moped. “But Tony Janov's worked Midtown since god was a boy and he's seen more weird shit than anyone I know.”

“And what happens when we get to Grand Central?” Steve asked, shooting the lights as they changed to red.

“Depends on where Retson is,” Danny said, pointing out the black and white NYPD cruiser that swung onto the street ahead of them, lights flashing. “What did Kono say?”

“Apart from warning me that she knew there was something going on that I wasn't telling her?” Steve said, grinning at Danny's pained expression. “She's got a fix on Retson's cell phone, and he is at Grand Central. She and Chin were going to do something I didn't want to ask about, to try to get a satellite feed of Midtown. And to see if there was anything that might clue us in to where he was.”

Shooting across 6 th Avenue and along the side of Bryant Park, following Officer Janov's lights and sirens as closely as they could.  The drivers in Manhattan weren't afraid to use the wake of a cop car to get ahead of their fellow travelers, so Steve couldn't leave too much of a gap, but he didn't want to hit the back of him if he braked.

“Oh shit,” Danny breathed, as they crossed 5th Avenue.

Steve glanced at him and then followed his gaze up to the sky. Of all the things he'd seen in the past few days, a big black cloud starting to swirl around the top of the Chrysler Building was the one closest to what he might have imagined if someone had said demons and magic in New York.

They sped along 42 nd Street, following Janov to the front of the station where he slewed to a stop, just before the Park Lane Viaduct. Steve pulled in behind him, briefly wondering how quickly the car was going to get towed, when Janov joined them on the pavement. He was a wiry old guy, obviously pushing retirement, with a mustache so bushy his mouth vanished underneath it.

“This is going to be bad, isn't it?” he said, looking up at the sky.

“Can you start evacuating people?” Danny asked, not answering him directly.

The older man looked at them, and Steve hoped one day to be as sanguine about impending disaster as the officer was. “Sure. I think I can smell gas.”

“You're a life saver,” Danny said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “Come on Steve.”

Steve followed Danny into the station, wondering what they were going to do. Sure, the clouds were gathering above, but that didn't mean going upwards was the right choice. And even if it was, getting on the roof, without the power of a badge, wasn't going to be easy.

Danny pulled out his phone as he ran into the station, swiping his thumb over the screen as he headed into the main concourse. Steve had a brief moment to consider Danny's goofy thumbs before his own phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, and looked at the screen.

“Kono,” he said, really glad to hear from her. “What have you got?”

“What's going on, boss?” she demanded, sounding stupidly worried given all they'd been through. “The feed's gone down.”

“Did you get anything before it crapped out?” He wasn't about to tell Kono what was happening, at least not in a rush, and not over the phone.

“There's someone on the roof,” she said, after a pause where she obviously decided against pushing him about their situation. “If I didn't know better, I'd say he was doing a magic spell.”

“Right,” Steve laughed, jogging after Danny on to the main concourse.

“Steve?” she asked, knowing he was lying.

“I promise, I'll explain it all when we get back,” he said, hoping Danny wouldn't mind their friends knowing. “Right now, I've got to update Danny.”

“Okay,” she said a little reluctantly, and Steve completely understood how she felt. Not knowing what was going on, not being there to help, had to be killing both Chin and Kono.

“I promise,” Steve said again, even though he knew he should never say things like that, not when he might not live through the next few hours.

“Stay safe, both of you,” she said, ending the call.

Steve grabbed Danny's arm, and the other man spun to face him, still talking on the phone. Steve waved his phone, mouthed 'Kono' and pointed upwards. Danny grinned, looking stupidly relieved. “We need to get on the roof.”

Danny ended his call and looked around to the left, and Steve followed his line of sight, spotting a stocky black guy in a high visibility jacket, waving at them. Danny headed towards him at a run, and Steve followed, marveling at the network of people who seemed to know about magic. And were willing to help combat problems.

“Danny boy,” the man shouted as they got within a few feet of him.

“Good to see you, man,” Danny said, gripping his hand and bumping shoulders in a bro-hug. “This is Steve McGarrett, my partner back in Hawai'i. Steve, this is Kwamie Miller, from NYC Transit.”

“Good to meet you, Steve,” Kwamie said with a smile and an outstretched hand. 

“Likewise,” Steve replied, returning the firm handshake. “Our team back home said our guy's on the roof.”

“I'm not gonna ask how they know that,” the man said, leading them through a door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only'. “I only just got word there's someone up there.”

“Can you hold off the cops?” Danny asked as they rushed along a corridor which ran behind the ticket counters. “This is going to get ugly, and I don't want to have to be holding civilians back.”

“I'll try,” Kwamie said, clicking the radio attached to his jacket. “Jonhson, I'm heading up to the roof with some back up. This is one for special investigations. Can you keep everyone else down below?”

The radio crackled as they started up the stairs. 'You sure?'

“Yeah,” their guide responded, rounding a corner on to a landing and heading up the next flight. “Got a couple of out of town cops with me. We'll be fine.”

'Okay.' The radio clicked off and they carried on going up, their footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

“He's actually a SEAL,” Danny said, making Kwamie turn and eye Steve with interest. “In the reserves now.”

“They have weird shit like this in the Navy?” the man asked, obviously considering the implications of that.

“Not that I know about,” Steve said, beginning to feel the burn of running up stairs. “I just dealt with the regular shit.”

Kwamie laughed and carried on running upwards. Steve wanted to ask what the transit authorities considered as weird shit, and who special investigations were, but they were on the last flight of stairs and Danny was pulling his gun out.

“Do we just drop him?” Steve asked pulling his own sidearm.

“I'd rather not,” Danny said with a grimace, getting in front of Kwamie as they got to the door to the roof. “But if he won't give up, then we'll have too. We haven't got time for a stand off.”

Kwamie pulled a police special .38 out of the pocket of his combat pants. Danny's face did a complicated maneuver that told Steve he really wasn't happy about the man having a gun. Kwamie spotted Danny's expression just as quickly as Steve had. “Don't look like that. You come down the tunnels chasing monsters without a weapon and tell me you feel safe.”

Danny's face settled into a 'fair enough' expression and Steve had to push aside his questions about chasing monsters. There was still so much he needed to know, but right now they had to focus on what was on the other side of the door. “Can you tell if he's opened the portal yet?”

“He's close,” Danny said, looking right into Steve's eyes as they stood either side of the door. “And even shooting him might not be enough to stop it.”

“Great,” Steve sighed, knowing that Danny would have to try to close the portal if it opened, and that his job was going to be stopping anything getting to Danny while he did it.

The radio crackled to life, making them all jump. 'Miller, we got a cop down here says there's a gas leak. He's trying to get an evacuation started.'

“Janov,” Danny said, and Kwamie nodded. “You better go down and help him. If this goes south we need civilians out of the way.”

“Johnson,” Kwamie said into his radio, already starting down the stairs again. “If he says there's a gas leak then that's what there is.”

“Let the others up, if they get here in time,” Danny shouted after him. Kwamie raised his hand in acknowledgment as he carried on shouting instructions into the radio. 

“Others?” Steve asked, as they shared a look and prepared to go through the door.

“Back up,” Danny said with a grin that made Steve smile back in return. “Because unlike you I remember to call them. Of course, you've clearly damaged me because I'm not waiting for said backup before I rush out there into certain danger.”

“That's because I'm your back up,” Steve said, feeling unbelievably pleased to be able to say it. “I might not be all that much use here, but I will always have your back. Always.”

“Babe,” Danny said, his expression somewhere between shocked and fond. “I...this is going to be way too fast, I know, but I need to say it. I love you, Steve McGarrett, and I don't care if you say it back or not. I need you to know it before we go out there, in case I never get a chance later. Just know that you are the best friend a man could have, and that I love you and always will.”

“Christ, Danny,” Steve said, his heart jumping in his chest and his eyes pricking with tears. “Me too. And you better make sure we can say it again.”

“You haven't said it this time,” Danny said, flashing him a mischievous grin before starting the count down to open the door with his fingers.

“I love you,” Steve said, opening up the door as Danny headed through, gun up.

“Well, okay then,” Danny breathed, as he focused completely on clearing the area in front of them.

Steve followed and they silently scanned the space around the door, but there was nothing to indicate where their man was. The roof sloped up from the central square of the station, hiding the outer edges from their view. Steve was trying to work out where he'd be if he was a maniac attempting to summon a demon that could destroy the city, when a shockwave passed over them. He'd been around enough explosions to know that it wasn't a normal detonation. Smelling sulfur a moment later, his skin started to crawl as though he were covered in many legged things. “What was that?”

“A heavy duty containment spell collapsing,” Danny said, running along the inner edge of the roof parallel to 42nd Street. Steve wondered how he knew which direction the spell came from, because the wave had felt oddly directionless to him. But he realized it wasn't magical knowledge, when Danny turned and headed up the roof towards where it had clearly buckled on the Vanderbilt Avenue side. Danny paused just before reaching the ridge and Steve was next to him as they peered over.

Below them, near the edge and directly facing 43 rd Street, was a man wearing a set of maroon velvet robes. He was standing in a Circle of Solomon, his hands raised as he chanted. Retson looked like he'd been polished at some point, like he belonged in his smart apartment building on the Upper West Side and worked on Wall Street. Somewhere along the way he'd lost his grip on that life though, and right now he was more than a little wild around the edges.

Danny could see a portal forming in front of the magic circle, the eddies of magic buffeting Retson. He realized that the would-be sorcerer either hadn't noticed, or didn't care, that his magic circle had collapsed. Unable to hear what the man was saying, he supposed it didn't matter. Retson had clearly bought into the Aleister Crowley school of ritual magic so was probably spouting an Enochian summoning that Danny wouldn't understand.

He'd never bothered to learn the language because it didn’t matter what words you used to work magic, you just had to get your mind into the right shape to bend the world to your will. He was quite happy to use English, although most of the spells he'd learned as a kid were in Latin. And he was going to give Steve permission to shoot him for his own good, if he ever showed signs of wanting to wear robes. 

Another wave of power thrummed out of the opening portal and Danny knew they had to move or it'd be too late. He stepped over the ridge of the roof, gun up, Steve not far behind him. “Retson, stop chanting and step out of the circle.”

Retson whipped around to face them, panic in his eyes, and Danny thought they might have a chance to stop him. Taking a step towards the sorcerer, he looked the man right in the eye. “Let me fix this before it gets away from you.”

Retson opened his mouth, but just before he spoke the air behind him crackled and a shadow shot out, ramming into his chest. Retson squawked, flailing for a few seconds before snapping to attention, his eyes fixed forward on the space right in front of the circle.

“Aneteb othil ludsi caosagi zirdo lonsmi depede zazax,” Retson said, his voice a harsh, more a scrape of chitinous insect bodies than human.

“Of course he uses Enochian,” Danny muttered, keeping his gun on Retson.

“Enochian?” Steve asked, flicking a quick glance Danny's way.

“Supposedly Angelic language made up by John Dee around five hundred years ago,” Danny said distractedly, debating with himself if he could really just shoot Retson for being a giant douche. “Basically used by poseurs and people who don't know any better.”

“How do we stop him?” Steve asked as Retson carried on chanting in the stupid arcane language.

“We should probably shoot him,” Danny said, wishing he didn't have too. “He's almost certainly not going to survive anyway, but...” He didn't even finish the sentence about how it seemed wrong to do it before Steve had pulled the trigger and put a bullet through the man's head.

“Gohus oadriax orocha dodpal,” the corpse said.

“Well okay,” Danny managed, while Steve just stared in horror.

Blood ran down Retson's neck, soaking the stupid robes he wore. Danny wasn't going to criticize Steve for taking the shot, not when it saved him from having to do it. No, he wanted to wrap the guy up in cotton wool, make him understand he didn't have to do that, he didn't have to be the one who did the awful things to protect everyone else. Instead, Danny holstered his sidearm, pulled his chalk out of his pocket and drew a circle on the ground. “I'm going to have to do this the hard way and I need you to hold the fort.”

“Right,” Steve agreed without any hesitation, and Danny just had to drag the man down and kiss him.

“There should be some help arriving soon, but what I need is for you to try to buy me time,” he said when they separated.

“Okay,” Steve replied, with a shy smile.

“And if you start to get overwhelmed, I need you to leave,” Danny ordered, knowing Steve would probably ignore him. “Get out of here and keep yourself safe.”

“What? No.”

“Please, Steve,” Danny begged.

“No,” Steve said, crossing his arms and frowning at Danny. “I wouldn't have left you before last night. What makes you think I'd leave now?”

“I need you to....” Danny tried again, about to bring Grace into the argument.

“I promised Grace months ago that I'd take care of you,” Steve said, and Danny cursed at how well the other man knew him. “And I'm not breaking my word to her.”

Danny sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument, he knew that, and they didn't have time to spare for a few more rounds of bickering. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Okay,” Steve agreed, a little triumphant grim sneaking onto his face.

“Seriously,” Danny said, grabbing Steve's arm and staring right into his eyes, letting their bond flow. “If I survive this, I want you there too. I meant what I said about that hotel room.”

“It's a date,” Steve said with a blindingly happy grin, pulling Danny into a quick kiss. “Now let's get this done.”

Danny stepped back and into the circle he'd drawn, and sat down. Pushing his power out into the chalk line, he closed it up, protecting himself from what was happening on the roof, as he tried to shut the portal the demon was forcing open. He hated not being there to stand with Steve, but there wasn't much else he could do. He just hoped he had the strength to push the demon back because if he didn't, it wouldn't much matter if Steve escaped the roof or not. Choronzon wasn't going to stop at New York, it probably wouldn't even stop at the US.

Danny pushed away the thoughts of what demon was going to do to the world and focused on his own power. Closing his eyes, he centered himself, opening up to the web of energy that flowed through the world. He felt the city, and Nana, and Steve all turn towards him, allowing him to draw on their power and fight the threat. He felt Mack and Heather, his mom and Aunt Jean, his grandma and cousin Billy. Reaching further and felt others,, people he didn't know but who wielded power like he did, open themselves to him and lend him strength. 

This wasn't about him and Steve saving the world, this was about the world saving itself, through him and Steve.


	10. Nine

  
Steve watched Danny settle and close his eyes, sensing a shift in the energy he felt from his partner when the circle closed. It was as though Danny was somehow muffled and the bright glow Steve hadn't realized was there, diminished slightly. He didn't have much time to think about it before Danny reached out towards him, through him, and he felt the city answer. Steve nearly staggered at the surge of power that washed over him, before it settled into a steady background hum.

He looked around the roof, checking again on the area where he was going to have to fight. Retson, or rather his corpse, was still chanting at the edge of the roof, the air in front of him crackling and swirling with power. When they'd talked last night about Choronzon and what it was, Nana had said there were reports of it manifesting in two forms, a voice or a legion of demons. Last night he'd hoped they got the voice. But now, watching a man he'd shot through the head carry on talking, the voice was way more unpleasant than he'd ever imagined.

He didn't feel guilty about shooting Retson, the man had been trying to summon a demon, even if he'd lost control of the situation by the time Steve put a bullet in him. He just wished it had stopped the portal opening, because then he wouldn't be worrying about protecting Danny from whatever might come through.

A noise behind him made him turn, his gun coming up as the sound of footsteps drifted over the ridge of the roof from the direction of the door. He really, really didn't want to have to face off against cops, or anyone else who might be up here to tell him he should leave.

A head appeared over the ridge-line of the copper roof, and Steve lowered his gun. Uncle Mack waved at him and Steve couldn't help the relieved grin that he knew was on his face. “Mack. Good to see you.”

“I brought reinforcements,” the man said, gesturing behind him as more people appeared over the ridge.

Steve watched them walked towards him, trying to decide whether he was glad they were there or not. There were a couple of sword carrying boys, one Hispanic, one Asian. They were probably barely out of high school, both looking more like they should be carrying skateboards and not katanas. Steve wanted to send them home, purely on the basis of their age, but he knew he had no real standing now Mack had arrived. If ever there was a de facto field commander, it was the big man who was pulling a Beretta 92FS out of the backpack he carried.

There was a woman with a pink Mohawk peaking out from under a patterned headscarf which was tied up in a bow. Her dress cut to look like a 1940s movie star and she was covered in tattoos. They were all along her arms, up her neck and onto her face. As she got closer Steve was shocked to realize she wasn't the young woman he'd taken her to be, but was in fact way older, her face lined and full of character. She grinned at Steve, cracked her neck to one side, and the tattoos on her arms writhed and swirled. The stars on her face flared and Steve could feel the power rolling off her.

“Steve, this is Della,” Mack said, introducing the woman. “She'll be taking point so try to stay out of her way. That's Luis and Gavin,” he pointed at the kids, who both dipped their heads in a formal bow. “Don't try to keep them back just because they're young. We're going to have enough to worry about without second guessing one another.”

“Okay,” Steve agreed, although he wasn't sure he was really going to be able to help himself if they got in trouble.

“This here's Jansson LeBron,” Mack said, pointing to a tall, thin black guy with a shaved head, leaning on a thick, heavy staff. “And finally that's Fiona.”

The person he indicted was a tiny, smartly dressed Asian woman, barely five feet tall and oozing a quiet confidence that allayed all his fears about her ability.

“Good to meet you all,” Steve said, catching each of their eyes. “Not sure how much you know about what's going on, but Retson's trying to summon a demon called Choronzon. When we got here he already had the circle set up and was getting a portal open. We asked him to stop, and I think he might have, but then something shot out of the portal and took control of him. I put a bullet through his head, but, well, you can see how well that went.”

“Huh!” Mack said and walked closer to Retson to get a look. Raising his gun, he shot the man again. The corpse carried on chanting. 

“I didn't miss, sir,” Steve said, annoyed the man hadn't trusted his word.

“I know, son,” Mack said, moving back towards them, picking up his backpack. “But I've got a different kind of round.”

He pulled a box of ammo out and offered it to Steve. “Custom load. Hard wood core, iron jacket, silver band, all soaked in holy water. Should drop most supernatural creatures, but clearly not so effective on corpses already possessed by a demon.”

“Wood core?” Steve asked, taking the box and flipping open the lid.

“Lignum vitae,” Mack said, pulling out three spare magazines. “Called Ironwood it's so strong.”

Steve popped the magazine out of his Sig, emptied it, stowing the rounds in his pocket, and replacing them with Mack's. He did the same with his spare magazines while he carried on with telling the group what was happening. “Danny's trying to shut the portal, and I guess our job is to make sure he has time to do it.”

“Then that's what we'll do,” Della said, her accent pure Brooklyn.

“Indeed,” Fiona said, taking off the jacket of her business suit. “I suggest we prepare, because this **shǎbī** is just about done.”

Steve blinked at the woman. Realizing he was the only one who spoke Mandarin, so only he understood just how offensive the word she used was. She grinned at him when she noticed his expression. “Don't tell me a sailor's offended by some strong words?”

“No ma'am,” he said, returning her smile even though he was a little unnerved that she knew he was in the Navy. “And you're right, we should be prepared. You guys all know each other, and know what you can do, so I'm not going to try to tell you how we run this thing. My job is to protect Danny, and that's what I'll focus on, but if you need my help, you yell and I'll do what I can.”

“Della, you've got point,” Mack said, turning to face the opening portal. “Gavin, Luis, Jansson, you're close quarters with anything that gets past her. Steve and I'll try not to shoot you, and Fiona, you're on our six, stopping anything getting off this roof.”

“Got it, boss,” Dalla said, stepping up behind Retson, the tattoo of an angel on her back swelling and unfurling its inky wings until they spread out beyond her shoulders. Steve felt his jaw drop, half in surprise and half in lust. Not lust for Della, although he really wanted to get to know her better, but for her tattoos. 

“You're going to see a lot stranger things than that,” Mack said, taking up his position near Steve. “I know this is all new to you, but you need to focus on the mission.”

“Yes, sir,” Steve said, snapping his focus back to the rooftop and whatever it was they were about to face.

“You'll do fine, son,” Mack said, giving him a reassuring smile. “You don't get to be a SEAL without a certain amount of mental fortitude.”

“What branch were you, sir?” Steve asked, glancing over to where Fiona was painting a line of Chinese symbols behind them using, a large paint brush and what he hoped was red ink.

“Army Rangers,” Mack replied, his eyes snapping away from Steve as Retson's corpse shouted 'Io Choronzon' triumphantly before turning to face them.

The air above the station building boiled, energy crackling and spitting towards the animated dead body that was looking at them with empty eyes. The sun hit the horizon, aligning perfectly so its light streamed down 43 rd Street and refracting off the portal, breaking into rainbows. It would have been beautiful if there hadn't been a corpse standing in front of it.

“I always wanted to see Manhattanhenge,” Steve said wistfully, feeling a little cheated his chance had finally come under these circumstances.

Mack opened his mouth to reply but shut it with a snap when Choronzon's harsh voice bust out of Retson's mouth. “ I am I. From me come leprosy and pox and plague and cancer and cholera and the falling sickness. I will reach up to the knees of the Most High, and tear his phallus with my teeth, and I will crush his testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof, to slay the sons of men.”

“Nice,” Mack muttered, leveling his gun at Retson again.

Nana had told them the Choronzon could manifest as a voice or as a legion of demons, and Steve hoped this was it. He didn't want to spend his evening making sure a chatty corpse didn't get off the roof until Danny could push it back and close the portal. But he'd happily take that over a fight with demons.

“And, because I am myself, therefore of no self; the terror of darkness, and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder, and the tastelessness of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire of hatred, and the udders of the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many things.”

“Why do they always love the sound of their own voices?” Della asked, the tattoos on her arms swirling under her skin.

“Cat of slime?” Steve said, trying not to think too hard about the udders.

“Yeah,” Mack said, a look of faint disgust on his face. “No idea.”

“The sun will burn you all as you writhe naked upon the sands of hell,” Retson said, his hands raising up as his dead eyes stared at them. “And the wind will cut you to the bone, flay the skin from your body, bite on every nerve, eat the heart from your chest.”

“Shut up,” Della said, bringing her hands together and shaping what looked like a tattoo of a star in the air between them. She pulled her hands apart, the floating blue-black star nestled in her right palm, before she hurled it at Retson. The spell, at least that's what Steve guessed it was, burst on the dead man's face, taking his mouth, nose, and a whole chunk of his head along with it, when it exploded. 

“I am many things,” said the bloody space where Retson's face should have been.

“Well, fuck me,” Della said calmly, and Steve felt a grin creeping on to his face only to have it freeze, half formed, as a thing with too many legs seemed to crawl out of both the portal and Retson simultaneously.

It leapt at Della, resolving itself into a dog sized ball of spider legs and sharp claws, with no discernible body. Della spun away, flinging an exploding star at it as she twisted sideways, ducking under the force of the spell as it blew off limbs which seemed to dissolve into gray ash. Steve didn't even think, he simply pulled the trigger and shot at the center of the churning mass of legs. The creature screeched as it hit the roof, rolling before it disintegrated into dust.

Steve knew better than to underestimate an enemy, but he felt himself relax just a little that they had killed it. He trusted them because Danny did, even though he'd only met them a few minutes before, but getting through the first enemy contact unscathed was always a milestone.

“I am many,” Choronzon said through Retson's body, and another shape crawled out of thin air.

And another.

And another.

“Fuck,” Steve muttered. He didn't even have time to work out what the things were, before he started firing at them, aiming where he hoped he would do the most damage.

A shadow, that was becoming something with wings, lurched to the side and exploded into ash. A thing with teeth and eyes and not much else dissolved as a bullet ripped into it. Della held her ground in front of the portal, the curling, barbed tattoos on her arms rolling down and extending out from her hands like whips. She swirled and sliced, cutting through the demons like they were butter as they crawled out of a hole in the world.

Steve was starting to get suspicious at the ease with which they were killing the things. It didn't seem right that something that was as feared as Choronzon, and as powerful as he and Danny had felt, could be overcome by a bunch of humans. Even if some of them were pretty good at what they did.

“I don't like this,” he shouted to Mack, shooting another partially formed shape as it leapt at them.

“Me either,” Mack shouted back, dropping two cat sized house flies with well placed shots.

“Is it trying to wear us out?” Steve asked, shooting the shape jumping at Jansson, as the other man rammed his quarterstaff through the chest of what looked like a feathered gorilla. Luis and Gavin were scything through anything that came their way, swords glinting in the pink light of the setting sun.

Steve risked a look behind them and saw Fiona calm but alert at her line of red calligraphy. She inclined her head a fraction of an inch when he caught her eye, acknowledging she was ready to fight when she was needed, but was focused on her task of holding their defensive line, regardless of what happened to her teammates. He felt a surge of pride for his new team.

Glancing down at Danny in his magic circle, he wished he could thank the man for trusting him with this. The bond they'd shared since last night was there, shimmering just below everything, but it was muted by the power Danny had invested in the circle. His eyes were closed, focused entirely on forming the spell he needed to close the portal and push Choronzon back to wherever he was supposed to be.

Della shouted and Steve's eyes snapped back to the battle, only to see the woman knocked aside by a giant snake that shot out of Retson's corpse, bursting the man open, leaving just his legs and one arm hanging in the air. The snake shimmered, its skin transparent, its organs glistening and shifting as it thrashed around and reared up to face Della. She threw a star at it but the explosion did nothing to the creature, other than make it hiss. 

Steve shot two rounds into its heart, the organ jolting wetly with the impacts, but the snake didn't even react to them, intent on Della. Steve looked at Mack for guidance but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Gavin ran up Luis's body, launching off his shoulder and landing sword first on the head of the snake. The blade drove into the thing's skull and sliced straight down into its brain. It thrashed to the side, and met Luis's blade driving into its eye. The thing let out an enraged hiss but Steve could tell it was dying.

The portal darkened and three shapes darted out. Steve was shooting before he even processed the movement and something that looked a lot like a dog made of black, squirming maggots exploded in front of him. Bile rose up in his throat as the maggots writhed towards him, tumbling over each other, half forming shapes, as the mass moved inexorably forward. He put a round into the thing, without much hope of doing it any damage, standing his ground even between the thing and Danny.

“Steve, down” Fiona yelled, her voice commanding and he dropped without even thinking.

Feeling heat pass over his back, he saw a burning Chinese character for fire slam into the pile of maggots. It burst, spilling searing white yellow flames over the roiling mass, consuming the things from the inside out. The flames died away and the outline of the bodies held for a few brief moments before they collapsed into dust.

Steve rolled to his feet, unable to even thank Fiona before a human shape, its skin deathly gray and hanging in lose folds from its body ran right through Jansson's staff, knocking the man clear across the roof. It leapt towards Danny and Steve was moving before he'd even processed what was happening.

He slammed into its side, knocking the thing out of the air and twisted to land on top of it. It glared up at him with yellow pupiless eyes in an otherwise featureless face and Steve looked back, frozen in a moment's indecision. The thing's face changed, managing to give the impression of a predatory grin despite its lack of mouth. Then its skin was spreading and flowing over his hands and up his arms like sentient slime.

Adrenalin spiked through him and he reared back trying to free his arms. The gray ooze of the demon's skin just stretched and then tightened, pulling him back down. Its chest spasmed and cracked, and a giant, teeth filled mouth opened, the fetid stench of rotting flesh pouring out and making Steve retch. He tried to pull back again but the thing's skin was banded across his back, and it pushed him down towards the teeth.

The thing's tongue shot out, covering his face, and wrapping around his head. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't do anything, except try to fight against the inexorable movement towards the sharp rows of teeth. Panic washed over him, and in desperation he squeezed the trigger of his gun, hoping the barrel was pointing towards some part of the creature and away from anyone else.

The stinking gray flesh tightened briefly over his head and he pulled the trigger again, because he wasn't going to die without doing something. With a howl of pain and indignation, the creature released his head and he reared back, his hands pulling free of the flesh as it dissolved and fell away from its bones. He rolled off the dissolving demon and put another couple of shots into it before turning to check on the rest of the team.

Danny was still motionless in the circle, but Steve knew from the simmering bond that he was aware of the demons attacking them on the roof, and was working as fast as he could. Della was on her feet, but her left arm was hanging at an odd angle even as she flicked her barbed whip through the body of a towering green bear that held Gavin above its head.

As the bear dissolved into ash, the kid fell, and landed on the roof, not moving. Luis roared and slashed his blade ineffectively through a cloud of blue haze that was swirling around him as he tried to reach his friend. Steve shot into the cloud, not expecting any more success than the kid's blade, but the bullets seemed to thud into something solid and the smoke began to change from blue to white. It dissipated into a swirl of white dust, caught in the breeze that kicked up now the sun was mostly below the horizon.

Luis got to Gavin and lifted his head as Della whipped her spell through something that seemed to be all impossible angles and distorted perspectives, which was bearing down on the pair. The spell had no effect, and neither did Luis' sword.

“Fiona,” Mack yelled, and then threw himself to the ground as the Chinese symbol for harmony slammed into the thing, transforming it into a jade sphere, that rolled down the roof and settled against the parapet.

“Look out,” Jansson yelled, running at the zombie horse that was heading for Mack. He rammed his staff into the gaping rib cage, pivoting it away from the man on the floor, and allowing Mack to unload a hail of bullets into its head.

It dissolved into ash and then the roof became quiet. Steve looked towards the portal, waiting for the next wave of creatures to come through, but nothing happened. After a few moments the team began to drift together, converging on Gavin and Luis, all silently checking on each other.

Jansson had a cut over his eye which was oozing blood down his face, and Della's left arm was obviously broken. Mack was favoring his right leg and Fiona's face was pulled tight with exhaustion. Luis seemed to be unharmed but Gavin was still not moving. Steve looked down at Danny, not yet ready to step away from his post protecting his partner.

He felt, rather than heard a concussive thump, a detonation happening somewhere outside the laws of physics, and the next thing he knew he was on the floor. His ears were ringing even though there'd been no sound and he wasn't sure he could see. Everything hurt. 

Feeling Danny reaching for him, he turned his mind towards him, offering reassurance that he was alive. 'Get up, get up, get up,' Danny shouted at him mentally, jabbing his instructions right into Steve's brain, and Steve's body reacted.

Rolling over, he staggered to his feet, his legs shaking. All the windows in the surrounding buildings had shattered and the copper cladding on the roof of the station had buckled outwards from the portal. He felt a strange kind of victory to be still alive, let alone standing in the midst of the devastation. He looked around trying to find the rest of the team. Danny was still safe in his circle but the others had been knocked down by the blast.

Before Steve could check on them, the portal heaved and something enormous began to force its way through the opening. Standing frozen, he watched as the thing pushed itself out into the world. He couldn't see much, just a gaping hole in reality that made his eyes hurt and his brain want to skitter away.

He was looking into the abyss, the sum of all his fears and failings staring back at him. He saw his parents fighting, he saw Pearl Harbor burning, he heard the shot that killed his father, he smelled mud and death and shit, felt himself crawling over bodies of his fallen comrades. Mary screamed for him and Grace fell away from him, crying his name as the black hopelessness swallowed her. He saw the earth scorched and burned, the dried bones of men and animals scattered in a desert, the world fractured and broken.

“Run,” Danny shouted at him, directly into his head without moving from the circle.

Danny's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he forced his terror away. His body wanted to obey Danny's command but he knew there was really no point in trying to get away. His legs were shaking still, and even if he did manage to out run the thing now, there would be no escape no matter how far he got, just a few more days at most, days where he'd know Danny was gone. This was where he had to make his stand, next to Danny, trying his best to give the other man the time to save the world from Choronzon.

Looking at his hands and seeing blood running down his arm, he realized his gun was gone. He couldn't feel an injury, but then his whole body felt like a giant bruise. His head was still spinning, but he reached for the knife he hoped was as powerful as Nana said it was.

“Don't,” Danny begged. “Don't you dare.”

“I love you,” Steve said, gripping the knife hard, and forcing himself to face his terror. “But I need you to focus on closing the portal.”

With that he ran forward, pushing his body to do what he wanted, even though his lizard brain was telling him to run far, far away. He sprang, ramming the knife into where he thought the body of the creature was, pouring all the power he could pull from his bond with Danny into it. The knife plunged in, and Choronzon screamed. Steve felt empty horror wash over him, pulling him down into the abyss, and he fell, and fell, and fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shǎbī – idiot, literally stupid cunt


	11. Ten

Danny forced himself to close his eyes, ignoring what Steve was doing, and focus on finishing the spell. He'd shaped it, pulled power from within himself, and charged it with everything he had. He was so close. Just a few more words, murmured under his breath, stitching together the biggest spell he'd ever cast. He couldn't afford to let it all unravel no matter what was going on around him.

Steve was doing the right thing, he knew that, even if everything inside Danny screamed at him to run. If they didn't stop Choronzon now, before it was fully manifested, then they probably never would. Then, no matter how far Steve ran, even if it was all the way back to Hawai'i to protect Grace, it would never be far enough.

Danny reached out, feeling Steve, drawing strength from the bond they still shared, the bond that roared through the spider-web that was the city, and loaded it into the spell. He reached further, feeling Nana urging him on, pushing her power out into the aether, letting him take what he needed to protect her city. The rush was amazing, as if the city, and everyone in it, suddenly turned towards him and yelled their support. He reached even further and felt Grace and Rachel, Chin and Kono, gathering support and strength from them.

Danny loaded the power into the spell, sharpening the words that formed the attack, bolstering the phrases that shaped the defense, and siphoning away a dangerous fizzing overload on the key that would seal the portal. It was a monumental work, complex and dangerous, and their last chance to push the demon of the abyss back out into the void.

He opened his eyes, focused on the thing pushing its way into the world.

Steve was six feet off the ground, wrapped in what looked like a tentacle, composed of a mixture of smoke and mucus. His knife was buried in the writhing mass of creature that bulged through the portal. Danny couldn't tell if Steve was even conscious, let alone if he was still alive, as the thing flailed, howling in pain and anger.

Danny tramped down on the urge to rush to Steve, to save him. He couldn't safely leave the circle, not with all the power he was carrying, waiting to be released. He took a centering breath, focused on the deep well of strength that seemed to flow up to meet him, and began to speak the words of the spell.

“Choronzon, daemon abyssi extremum, milites, multis unus.”

The thing stopped flailing, its focus shifting from Steve, and the pain his knife was inflicting, towards Danny. The kick of power against the shields he'd built was immense, but he pushed back, sounding the next part of the spell.

“Nomen tuum verum dicam, et dominabitur in vos.”

Choronzon howled and fought against the bonds Danny was wrapping around it, but he'd used its names, and names were like a map. They gave the power of the spell something to build on, roads to speed down right to the place it needed to be.

“Non ego solus stare.”

He didn't stand alone. He could feel the power of a city of people behind him. And behind them he thought he might be able to feel more people, more humans lending their support to keeping the world safe. And Choronzon could feel it too, now.

“Unde venerunt ad te deleo.”

The first thrust of power meant to push the thing back, burned through Danny, making his skin tingle and his eyes water. The world fractured into a mass of bright lights, and Danny felt himself falling into it. The spell came to life inside him, using his body to funnel the immense power needed to fulfill its purpose. His mouth formed words, but it was both his voice and not his voice. Millions of voices speaking through him.

“Ego protector, salvationum lucem et ultimum exitium.”

He wasn't the protector and the saving light, he was simply the vessel now. He was split open, exposed, the power of a city, or a world, roaring and burning through him. Words were tumbling and forming in him. The spell crackled and pulled at the construct he'd created, threatening to break free. He threw himself into the maelstrom of fire at the heart of the spell and fought it.

“Revertere ad locum tuum iuste.”

Choronzon unleashed a wave of destructive energy, fighting against the forces trying to push it back through the portal. Danny thought he might be screaming, but he couldn't tell. He felt his skin tearing and his bones shattering, but he could not, would not, let this thing win. He thought of Grace, his family, of Steve, of all the people he loved, and pushed on.

“Ego te signa atque alligare vobis.”

Claws ripped at his mind, gouging holes in him, tearing away everything that he was, and everything that he could be. Memories and emotions swirled and were lost, he was falling into the Abyss, but it didn't matter because he was almost done. He would follow the beast down, spend all eternity bound to it as he was now, if he could just close the door and keep the world safe.

“Ego claudere ostium, et ostia.”

The spell roared out of him, and he felt the world change. The great tear in reality heaved and snapped closed, the body of the thing from the Abyss tumbling backwards. Danny felt like an elastic band snapped over his brain as the pressure wave of released magic boomed out from the portal, rushing over midtown and shattering windows.

Danny crumpled to the floor as the magic drained away, his breath coming in harsh, panting whoops. Lying still, not entirely sure if he was alive or dead, he felt numb, but there was an edge that told him it was going to really fucking hurt later.

As the sky darkened, he looked up and watched the stars twinkle into life. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the air smelled weirdly fresh. It was as though the magic had washed away the smog and left nothing but summer evenings and clean air. There was no sound, no cars, no sirens, nothing. He was still staring up at the sky when Steve's face swam into focus.

“Danny?” Steve sounded hesitant and he wondered how bad he must look if Steve couldn't tell who he was.

“Yeah, it's me,” Danny said, glad to find his voice back under his control. “How bad is it?”

“Are you hurt?” Steve asked, and Danny felt hands on him.

“Am I?” Danny didn't think that was the right answer but his brain wasn't really online yet.

“Don't think anything's broken,” Steve said seriously, leaning over to peer into Danny's eyes, obviously hoping to check for head injuries.

“You and I are going to have so many words, Steven,” he said, slapping away Steve's hand as he tried to angle Danny's head to get a better look. “You have no more sense about demons than you do about criminals.”

Steve laughed and then leaned down and landed a messy, wet, relieved kiss on Danny's lips. “Never change. Ever.”

Danny grinned up at him. He knew they needed to move soon. He wanted to check on everyone else, and make sure Steve wasn't hiding a broken leg or something equally bad. But right now he was happy to lie there and bask in the knowledge they'd saved the day and, against all the odds, they seemed to both be alive.

Chin watched the shaky phone footage of the events in New York. The clips from before the authorities started confiscating everything and saying it was a gas leak. And he wasn't sure he could be believe his eyes.

“Did...was that...?” Kono asked, watching the screen next to him.

“Yeah, me either,” he agreed.

The phone in Steve's office rang, the encrypted sat phone, the one that only Steve really used. Chin and Kono looked at each other, neither entirely sure if they should answer it or not. Chin was fairly sure they were going to ignore it, when Kono's cell beeped.

She pulled it out and unlocked the screen. 'Answer the damn phone' Danny's text message screamed at them, and they scrambled into Steve's office.

“Hey guys,” Steve said, as soon they answered.

“Steve,” Chin replied, holding the phone between him and Kono. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve answered, sounding like he wasn't really sure what he should say. “You watching the news?”

“Boss?” Kono said. “What was that?”

“Not sure I should tell you over the phone,” Steve said, his voice going quieter as though he turned away slightly. “Not even this one. And it's mostly Danny's story to tell.”

“But you're both okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, obviously distracted by whatever was going on around him. “Look, Danny and I are fine. So's his family. But we lost a kid today, on the roof, and...he was only nineteen. Danny didn't know him all that well, but...you know Danny.”

“How's he doing?” Chin asked, because it was the easy, obvious question, before he got to the one he needed to ask. “How are you doing with that?”

“I'm okay, Chin,” Steve sighed, like he was really thinking about it. “We've got a couple of broken bones and some pretty big scrapes but we're okay.”

“Who's got broken bones?” Kono demanded, looking alarmed at the prospect of both Steve and Danny in casts.

“Oh, not Danny and me,” Steve said, realizing he was being vague, and not passing on the information he needed to. Chin could almost see him pulling himself together. “We had some of Danny's friends, and friends of friends, helping. Gavin, the kid who died, he was...I don't think we actually spoke, but his boyfriend's pretty cut up. Danny's with him. Uncle Mack's with Della at the hospital. Look, sorry, I'm really fucking exhausted.”

“It's okay,” Chin said, just glad that Steve and Danny were alive and seemingly whole.

“I called, well, to say we were okay, but can you try to get online and make me, Danny and the other names I'm going to send you disappear from today?”

“We can try, boss,” Kono said, catching Chin's eye to make sure he agreed. “Won't be completely possible, I'm sure.”

“Do the best you can,” Steve said, sounding like he was about to fall asleep.

“Go and get some rest, Steve,” Chin ordered. “Go and make sure Danny's getting some sleep too.”

“I will Chin,” Steve sighed. “Thanks guys. I promise we'll explain everything when we get back. Speak to you later.”

With that he disconnected the call and the two cousins were left just looking at each other. Chin wasn't really sure what was going on, but they had things to do for their friends and the promise of an explanation later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny's spell  
> Choronzon, demon of the Abyss, Outermost, Legion, many and one. I call you by your true names, and I have power over you. I do not stand alone. I banish you back to whence you came. I am the protector, the saving light, and your ultimate bane. Go back to your rightful place. I seal you and bind you. I close this door, and all doors


	12. Epilogue

Steve danced away from the cloud of fire that the boggart spat at him, feeling the flames lick at the protective charm Danny had thrown over him as soon as the demon appeared. Their bond flickered and flared, making him grin as he heard Danny's feelings in his head. Annoyance, fondness, worry, mumbled words like reckless and stupid. He let his partner know he was okay, that he wasn't even singed a little.

“Steve, down” Chin yelled, and he dropped to the sidewalk.

The kukui nut Chin threw, exploded and obliterated the boggart. The explosion sprayed damp ash across the front of the office block the boggarts had been guarding. Steve twisted around and grinned at his teammate, long since over the jealously he'd borne when his friend's natural talent blossomed under Danny's magical tutelage. Steve had really wanted to be the one to charge up items, use them to protect himself and the team, but it seemed he just wasn't wired that way.

Steve hadn't been able to learn even the simplest of spells, which had pissed him off immensely, the power he was sure he could feel, kept slipping away from him. Nana said it was there  and, although he had more magical power than most of the practitioners she'd ever met, for some reason he wasn't able to use it. But Danny could.

He and Danny were learning more every day just what they could do together . Danny was stronger, could cast spells much faster, and the feedback Steve got through the bond, allowed him to keep track of what was going on in the aether. They were completely entangled, he and Danny, and Steve couldn't imagine his life without that bond now. 

Steve felt Danny pull on his power, dueling with the practitioner who'd decided Hawai'i was the place to visit to do some casual summoning and blackmail. He could tell from Danny's confidence that the sorcerer wasn't all that strong, and his partner was taking his time trying to learn all he could about the other man's power.  If they captured him alive, anything they could learn, would make containing him easier.

“Boss man,” Kono yelled, and Steve ran around the corner to find her pinning a flailing boggart to the pavement. Unsure how she'd managed it, he didn't have time to admire her skill. Pulling out his knife, the adamant blade, he jammed it into the demon's head. The boggart exploded into ash, and Steve helped Kono to her feet.

She had a cut on her arm and a bruise across her cheekbone but she was grinning like she'd found her true calling. Danny had started calling her Buffy all the time, so Steve had finally been forced to sit down and catch a few of the episodes,  just so that he could keep up when the two of them quoted lines at each other .

Kono was normal, at least as normal as a woman who happily wrestled demons could be. She and Steve had to rely on Uncle Mack's special rounds, Steve's blade and the watchful eyes of Danny and Chin. And their fighting skills. 

Steve felt the surge of power as Danny fired a huge binding spell at the mainland sorcerer, and then the whump of detonating magic as it crashed into the other man. He wasn't sure how long a binding spell lasted but he knew the man was going to be handed over to Keaka to deal with. The Kahu was the ultimate magical authority on Oahu, helped by those who fought the good fight to keep the place safe from people who wanted to mess around with magic.

Last month, they'd busted a woman  as she tried to possess her mother and force her to change her will. She was barely a blip on the magical scale, but Keaka still took his duty seriously and stripped her powers. They'd managed to charge her with a conventional crime as well, which was a massive bonus. Steve was already planning how he was going to make sure the idiot who'd summoned boggarts spent a long time in jail.

“Babe,” Danny called, as Steve jogged into the office building. “Everything out there okay?”

The other sorcerer was curled in a ball on the floor.  Just outside of the spectrum of visible light, Steve could sense the web of power that seemed to shimmer over him. Danny looked tired but otherwise fine, a little grin on his face when Steve's affection bled through their bond. “Yeah, all good.”

The other half of the team tramped in, Chin already on his cell calling Keaka, with Kono gleeful and still looking for more demons to wrestle. Danny grinned at them all, and Steve could feel his immediate joy at a job well done.  He was experiencing the underlying happiness at finally having both sides of his life in harmony, keeping everyone he loved safe.

Steve grinned back. Sure, the world was now an even more horrifying place than before his trip to New York, before he learned about a world beyond the normal, but he'd gotten so much back in return. He let his mind dive deeper into the bond, feeling Danny and the island reaching back to him. Yes, definitely worth it.

~fin~


End file.
